


Seed of Flowey - extra

by Roku_Takeru



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Undertale Fusion, No More Resets (Undertale), Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-06-09 14:20:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 90,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6910705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roku_Takeru/pseuds/Roku_Takeru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These chapters happen in-between the main story progress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. [Rance and Undyne] Plans in Motion - The Royal Spar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [UPDATE] This time, I added the names of the characters who will be featured in the extra.

                It was before 6 in the morning, Undyne sits up from her bed and stretches her arms with a loud yawn. After what happened a while back, she felt like she was getting sloppy, and because Toriel was also stronger than her in terms of physical attributes, she can’t help but to feel left out. She looked at Toriel still resting on her bed, Undyne was glad that the problem was resolved for now. But the more she thinks about it, made her lose temper to herself. “Ngahh! I’m going out!” she furiously shouted as she went outside. Undyne’s clothes were still drying up so she had no other clothes to use but the bathrobe she borrowed. Asgore and Toriel didn’t mind them borrowing their robes, so they wouldn’t mind if it gets smudged with dirt or mud, Undyne thought.

                When she got outside, she saw Rance doing a number of pushups in the middle of the open space while counting around 57 and so forth, while his spear was laying on the side of the door. Asgore’s front lawn is considered a large space for Royal Guards to train in, so it was no issue for any of the soldiers or warriors to use for sparring and other military drills. But because there were more casualties during the war between humans and monster, the big empty space was barely used for sparring anymore for those who survived. It makes things more depressing for those who survived the war to go see how it became less lively. So, most of the veterans had retired. The only ones who get to used the space were Undyne and the new batch of Royal Guards, as well as the sentries. But because there were more sentries than Royal Guards or actual fighters, the lot was rarely used in combat.

                “Hey, human! What are you doing here?” Undyne shouted from the front door entrance. Rance wasn’t stopping with his pushups as he responded, “I’m training myself. You?” Undyne rushed in and stepped on Rance’s back. “You’re in my spot. Punk!” After Rance pushed down, he sprung himself forwards like a slingshot and rolled off. He left her spot, but with marks for slinging himself off the spot. Rance stood up and dusted off his hands. “After you.” He jested as he crossed his hands. Undyne caught his attention, the fact that he had sweat that much means to say that he’s been training for about 30 minutes. Undyne had a similar pace when she trained during her early days. But this human is rather weird to do something like that.

                Undyne stomped the marks and began her push-ups. Rance was observing, by the time she reached about 48 counts on her push-ups, he asked her “[Did you really challenge Frisk to a duel?](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6526198/chapters/15110629)” On the 50th, Undyne rolled on the ground and lays down to catch a breath. “Yeah, that punk knows how to dodge.” Rance gave her time to recover and then he offered his hand. Undyne took up that offer and then they proceeded to sit-ups. “Frisk was known to be a fast kid. That much I can tell.” The warrior mentioned while he firmly held Undyne’s feet to the ground as she exercises as he focuses on Undyne. “Did she get any training from you?” she asked and then they switch roles. “No, she never did. All we could tell was that she stays in her room with her mother. Even her father knows that.” As he pumps up, Undyne was thinking things. She was recalling how Frisk managed to go so far as to reach the Monster Capital without a scratch. Then something hit her.

                “… Looks like someone else was looking after her.” Rance told her when he noticed that Undyne realized something. It was all Sans’ handiwork; when he was sleeping while she was chasing Frisk bought her some time. There were also several Royal Guards who weren’t able to show up, because Undyne got the feeling that Sans was entertaining them. But because RG01 and RG02 weren’t sociable with RG03-RG06, they were left out. Undyne knew several dangerous monsters that were just about her level or slightly below her, but none of them showed up to catch Frisk. After the final sit-up, Rance noticed that Undyne’s face was going red.

                He took the caution of bopping her head to snap her out from her thoughts, then she lets go of his feet as both of them stood up. They both dusted off their hands and clothes, and then Undyne wanted to ask something, but to Rance it was an obvious question. “You wanted to spar, right?” Rance asked, Undyne replied “Hell yeah! I’ve always wanted to see how you humans fight. But even that brat wouldn’t fight back.” Rance was becoming more irritated when she called Frisk ‘Punk’ and ‘Brat’, but he was taught not to get provoked easily. “Change your attire before we fight. It’s not comfortable to see someone [fighting with robes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6526198/chapters/15110629).” Rance suggested, especially since Undyne is a female warrior, it might be awkward if her bathrobes flew up in the air without her. Undyne tied her bathrobe’s belt tight like a belt for karate users and replied with a menacing grin, “A true warrior never backs down from a fight with **reasons like that!** ”

                Rance went to the side of the entrance doorway to get his spear and agreed, with no other words said, Undyne forged her own spear made out of water from her hands. Both went to the middle and made a stance, ready to fight. As both were sweating, one last drop became their signal to move. Undyne swings her spear sideward with both hands, while Rance blocked it with his spear’s shaft with only his left hand. Then he adds his other hand and proceeds to slide it towards her, but she immediately swung back to prevent him from injuring her hands. Rance immediately changed styles by using his right hand and thrusted the bladed part as Undyne dodges, then performed a back somersault as she made a firm sitting stance with her feet trying to stop her from falling backwards. She pushed herself back and made her grind her feet.

                Undyne can tell his intentions aren’t going for the kill, because she could tell that he hesitated. With that kind of thrust, he could easily change the blade rotation and swing sideward to slash through her stomach. Rance is definitely well-trained in combat, she concludes. This time, Undyne focused on hardening her spear and its watery transparency became a pure blue. Now the fight is warming up. Rance charged in with a faster pace and swings his bladed spear upwards with his right, and in a blink of an eye she swings diagonally with her right. The blade part was cut off from the spear itself and flew upwards, making his weapon less dangerous. Both of them stepped back, and Undyne was getting fired up. Rance didn’t show any other facial expressions other than a serious poker face.

By the time the blade stabbed the middle ground, Undyne sprung herself as fast as she could. Rance hesitated and blocked vertically. This time, Undyne’s swing broke his spear’s shaft into two, and the force nearly made him fall on his back but he forced his foot to the ground and made a hole. Undyne’s pride was becoming more obvious when she thought she was victorious with the spar, “Looks like I— “in the blink of an eye, Rance swings both his hands holding the broken shaft with force that sent her flying. She has to regain her balance before landing, but before she could land herself, Rance was already on her front, face to face and knee-kicked her stomach. This time, she fell on the ground and constricted herself into recovering. Rance waited for her to recover, and then she stabbed her spear to the ground. What the hell was that, she thought.

                His movements suddenly became very fast. It was almost a blur when he moved. Now that she realized, his sister was also fast that when she left it was also a blur. One way to find out is to have a clash. Undyne boiled all her strength while charging in, and at the moment Undyne made 10 steps, her opponent blurred and heard ten loud rapid stomps. He’s coming in full force, and to determine who wins is either one of them falls to the ground or their weapons rendered unusable.

Rance’s spear was turned into a bo Staff when the blade was cut off, and then when his bo was broken into two, it became two long drumsticks. If she were able to disarm him, then she wins. But with his change of pace, makes it hard to tell if she even has a chance. Rance stopped blurring when they’ll strike at each other and swung both his sticks toward Undyne’s concentrated spear. With how much density and focus Undyne put into making it should withstand Rance’s broken hardwood shaft, but at that time both had collided, the warrior invested so much force that her spear was the first to crack into two, and it also made her let go of her weapon. Undyne fell on her back as her well-made spear faded into a puddle.

It was decided, and Rance offered his right hand. Undyne took up the offer and stood up. Both dusted their clothes, and now Undyne was loaded with questions. “How were you that fast?! You’re like a ninja!!” she grabbed his collar with her right. Rance with the broken stick at hand used his fingers to get her hand off him and started explaining, “I was hired as a rogue before I became a soldier. Rogues are trained to be fast by having heavy weights stuck on our arms and legs for a whole year. It was like hell.” Undyne became curious as to how heavy they were carrying. “At start, they give us weights depending on our age. I was around 14 that time, so they gave me 40 pounds per part. And they kept increasing the weight each time we start to move normally with our current weights.” Undyne hearing that made her imagine if she were faster than Rance, then she could smug her face with him on the ground groveling. But that is, if she were to have that training before she became the head of the Royal Guard.

“If you want to get faster, you have to know how to strike hard and fast first.” Rance suggested. Undyne seem to have noticed a while back when he attacks. He wasn’t just swinging around or attacking like most warriors do, it means to say that he has a secret in making his attacks very powerful. “If you’re interested, when we get to the surface I can teach you the basics in making your strike more refined.” Undyne is having second thoughts with his offer, but then again, “Why can’t we just train now?!” she eagerly asked him. He poked Undyne’s shoulders and a sudden pain jolted her, “I kind of went all out on that last attack. You need to recover first.” He said plainly.

Undyne rubbed her shoulders and nodded, looking down. One day, she’ll be able to surpass him. And at the back of Rance’s mind; his plan to convince them seems to go smoothly. The moment they were about to face the doorway to the castle, they heard metal sounds from the inside. Then comes a tall skeleton wearing Rance’s armor attachments coming outside with two smaller figures. “BEHOLD! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS BECOME A ROYAL GUARD!” he said with pride as he posed to put his right hand unto his chest while his scarf gives an air flight. To be specific, Sans fanning for him while Frisk was throwing confetti. “What the hell, Frisk, Papyrus, Sans! You shouldn’t be taking Rance’s armor without permission!” Undyne shouted. She knows that part of a warrior’s pride is by wearing his or her armor. Having someone else wear them without permission and making an entrance is a big insult.

Sans might be scheming something to provoke Rance, and Papyrus doesn’t know that. Undyne assumed since he’s been luring away the dangerous monsters to have Frisk cross through the underground without encountering actual danger. And with Frisk supporting, it might be very well to save Papyrus from being harmed. Just what is Sans thinking? Undyne noticed that Rance is still holding the broken sticks, and his hands seem to start shaking. “Hey, Papyrus….” He said. Papyrus replied, “WHAT IS IT, HUMAN?” he looks at Rance with a smile, but then he stopped smiling after he asked him, “Did you know, **how loud the bell rings in the human capital?** ”

Sans can sense danger and was about to get ready to defend, while Papyrus didn’t have the time to think what he just did. After two seconds he asked the question, he blurred with loud stomping footsteps heading towards Papyrus’ direction. Sans can’t see the human warrior, but the stomps on the ground make him predictable as to where he’s heading. Sans forced both hands to the ground, teleporting a large number of bones to make a blockade. He was confident that he could stop him with that number of bones, but after a split second, Rance was already behind him. He swings both his broken shaft with full force. And Sans’ imaged the worst possible scenario of his brother being decapitated. Frisk imagined the worst case scenario, as she tries to block his way.

At that time, Frisk was watching from the side and her being there should stop him from attacking, but it was already too late. Rance’s actions to get provoked like that means that he values his pride. He slammed both hands unto Papyrus’ borrowed armor and made a really loud bell ring. The force was even greater than what he did to Undyne, but for some reason Papyrus wasn’t knocked back. The metal sound echoed throughout inside him, and shook him to fall and sit on the ground. Everyone else covered their earholes due to it being too loud, and it seem to have caused a commotion outside the palace.

                Papyrus’ whole body was still vibrating and then Rance held his head with both hands without letting go of his pieces. The bell ring was still in his head and Sans summoned a Gaster Blaster. “And that is how loud the bell rings.” Everyone approached to see if Papyrus is okay, and in answer he gave a thumbs up. “BOY, HUMAN….. THAT WAS A HARD SWING. BUT, I….. THE GREAT PAPYRUS…. CAN WITHSTAND YOUR …… ATTACK…” Papyrus couldn’t finish a sentence without pausing since the loud clang was still ringing. Undyne was about to grab Rance by the collar again, but she can’t lift her arms high up to do so. Sans’ eye socket had a glow but Rance raised his hand to make a stop gesture. “In terms of weight and density, my armor attachments can withstand blunt and piercing type. But only to a certain degree.” He explained.

                Rance had no intention of killing, because he understood how durable it is, and how it can withstand shock trauma. But he went too far that it didn’t break the armor, but the shock trauma pulled through. And since Papyrus was a skeleton, the sound echoed inside him. Just at the doorway,[ Asgore and Toriel look worried](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6526198/chapters/15675079). He had enough commotion to do for once.

…To be continued.


	2. [Asriel and Monster Kid] Unnecessary Conflicts - Short Misadventures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an in-between 'Plans in Motion' and 'Unnecessary Conflicts' story of Asriel and Monster Kid.

                The day when the monsters are led to the human camp, and as the two young monsters watched, they proceeded to move forward with them, without being seen. The walked and stopped from tree to tree to avoid being noticed; they need to be very cautious, since Frisk is with two human guards. Chara warned them not to underestimate them. ‘Try going to the far right tree, and from there on use the vines to swing from one vine to another.’ Chara pointed out as her monster friend looked where. They noticed that the forest is becoming more of a jungle because of the vines. But he shook his head and thought that he won’t be able to do that since his companion doesn’t have any arms, Chara just stayed quiet for a while inside Asriel’s head.

                Later on, Monster Kid starts to slow down the pace. They are deep in the forest and away from the pathway the monsters are taking. “Asri…. let’s take a….break…” he tries but he ends up puffing out his breath. There was no other choice but to wait until they recover, Asriel almost forgot about the donut he had yesterday. He took it from his pocket and gave it to Monster Kid. “Dude…. You had that donut for a while…. Right?”

                “Yeah… why?” Asriel replied with a confused look, then he realized it. He had that since he was at the ruins, then he was nearly blasted by the turret, and then he turned into an older monster with his attire changing. Asriel even fell to the ground, and reverted back to his young form. He hit the ground hard, and where he took out the donut was the side where he landed. In suspicion, it should have been flatted or left a stain in his pocket. If not, then the dirt should have ruined it. Instead, it was maintained. “weird… you still want it?” he asked Monster Kid again.

                Monster kid was inspecting it while he was wondering how it was still clean. Regardless, he used his tail to pick it from the middle hole and decides to sniff it. It’s warm, but there are no traces of dirt or even cloth residue. “Can you maintain food with magic..?” he asked his companion. “No…” Putting that aside, Monster Kid’s stomach grumbled and then just went with it. “Asri, try to split it in half. We can share.” In Asriel’s response, he raised his right hand and shook his head. “No thanks… I’m not hungry…”

                “Oh well, then.” Monster Kid ate it whole. He chewed it thoroughly for a while and swallowed it. But he felt that something was odd about the donut. “It’s tasty, but why was it crunchy?” He tries to recall as he plays with his tongue to savor the flavor. “That was a Spider Donut from Muffet.” In realization, he started to spit out the remaining residue of the donut as he used his tail to wipe off his tongue. “DUDE, WHY THE HECK DID YOU FEED ME SPIDERS?!” he retorted. In response to his anger, Asriel patted his head and answered: “Muffet’s spider donut are good. It helps you get energized with it.” In his remark, it sounded like he was promoting it and at the same time teasing it to his companion.

                A little while later, they kept on walking until the monsters have reached the human camp. At that moment, the tension was obvious and Asriel prepared to cast a spell just in case they try something. Later on, it seems that the tension let down after Frisk and her father had reunited. The two hiding monsters had exhaled in relief. But they’re not done, yet. Asriel wanted to sneak in, but those monsters might recognize him as the King and Queen’s son. It couldn’t be help that they couldn’t go in, but Monster Kid can. “Monster Kid, can you go into the camp and tell me later what is going on?” he whispered.

                “Are you serious? You fed me donut made of insects and now asking me to go there?” he was still in a bad mood after Asriel just fed him that. They continue whispering, “look, I’ll make it up to you. There should be bushes around here that grow something eatable. I’ll find you some berries here and I’ll get plenty.” Monster Kid rubs his head with his tail while pinching his eyes close in irritation. He then makes a decision as he face Asriel. “Fine! But be sure you get them by the time I get back.” He was going to rush on, but before that. “Hey…. Be careful out there.” Asriel shows concern for his companion. He owes him a favor, so after Monster Kid had left, it was high time Asriel starts to look for berries.

 

* * *

 

                Monster Kid had gone to the entrance of the camp. “Halt!” The two guards have stopped him from going any further by blocking their rifles like two spears. He couldn’t mutter a word at first, so he was thinking of a reason to get in. Instead, one soldier had look at the other and mentioned, “Oh, it’s one of the monsters that was with the Vor siblings.” The other seem to agree, “This guy must’ve been separated after that long march. Go on, ahead!” they smiled as they unblock the way. “Thanks!” he walks in. There are some of the monsters that can recognize him, and they might send him back if he’s seen. So instead of going forward, he went to the side and hide from them. He also needs to be careful, since there are a lot of humans that are on duty. He snuck into one of the tents, and then when the coast is clear, he sneaks into the other. Without knowing what tent he keeps going into, at least there were no people there. Until he went to one and a human found him.

                The human Monster Kid encountered wasn’t just any guard, it was Dianne who was fixing her gear. She looks back to see him, wondering why this monster went to her tent. She then puts away the chain blades she was polishing back unto her side pockets and approached him. Monster Kid was so nervous that he was shaking. As she crouches down to his face, she then poked his forehead and smiled sincerely. “Bang…” that was out of character, for a moment he thought she was going to kill her. His worst assumptions got the best of him.

                “How can I help you?” she asks him with a cheery voice while stands up as she put her hands behind her. “Uhhhh, I’m looking for Frisk.” Monster Kid was sweating as he looks sideways, trying to smile back, but his smile wasn’t working well and his actions are too suspicious to be honest. Dianne raised an eye brow as her cheery side became a stern look, all while tilting her head to her left a little. “And what is your business with the princess?” her tone was slightly serious. He was going to answer back, but Monster Kid’s fear levels rose when she crossed her hands just below her chest. “I-I-I want to see her… S-she saved my life back at the underground, a-a-and I want thank her and—wait.” He was stuttering because of Dianne’s look, but he just realized something.

                “Frisk is a princess?!” his reaction just changed. “Well, now. I need to get going…” Dianne walks passed him as she exits her tent. He then looks back as she answered his question. “Princess is at the Medical tent with Toriel. Be sure to greet her politely.” All while raising her left hand and points two fingers up, and shakes her wrist to say good bye. He then smiles and now knows where to go. He then proceeds there and accidentally bumped into someone. It was Ice Wolf, “Hey, kid! What are you doing here?” in Monster Kid’s reaction he ran away. Another big monster came to greet Ice Wolf, “Hey Ice, why is Kid here?” he just shook his head and raised both hands above his shoulders.

                He reached the medical tent and decide to listen from the side. He can hear two voices that aren’t familiar to him. Later while he was listening, a robot with one wheel rushed in while carrying humans. He then heard the news. A rogue monster had attacked a farm, and in his thought he remembered Asriel mentioning that he’s going to get some food to return a favor. He assumed that Asriel got caught and was mistaken for a monster attacking someone. Monster Kid’s mind was all over the place, and without wasting a second, he ran towards outside as fast as he could. He then heard screams inside the tent, without knowing what to do, he just ran away.

The entrance guards weren’t on their post, so he was able to run without being noticed. He went back to the same spot they were around before they separated behind the trees. As soon as he got there, Monster Kid saw Asriel just the far south east slowly walking towards him carrying a shirt full of berries. “Hey, Monster Kid. I got the berries--!” Monster Kid proceeds to tackle him, knocking him flat on the ground “Where did you get those berries?!” he furiously asked while pulling his collar shirt with his tail. “What the heck? What was that for?!” he retorted after he sits up, all while his companion pinned him to the ground.

“Did you go to a farm just to get me some food?!” Monster Kid proceeds to ask him questions. “No, I didn’t! I told you before, there are bushes here where we can get some berries!” Asriel pushed him off and fell to the ground so that he could stand up. He dusted off his shirt as he looked around and saw the berries he had a hard time carrying scattered across the grass and on the root sides of the trees. “Now look what you made me do!” he raised both hands to his side. “I went to bring you back a lot of berries that I could barely carry back here as promised and this is what you do?” he raised a voice. All while Monster Kid tries to stand back up, “I-I thought you went to a farm and attacked the humans to get food. That robot we encountered back at the CORE says so!” both of their stomachs had growled.

Asriel sat to a nearby root and grabbed a nearby berry. Monster Kid sat next to him, as he offered his share. “….Thanks…” Monster Kid was looking down, while using his tail to get the berry and ate one. “Sorry for doing that….” Asriel looked at him and asked, “What happened there?” While Monster Kid was telling him the story, Asriel was picking up the berries he dropped. Later on, they were sharing it as his companion tells his experience when he faced that other human, Dianne. “So, right now a farm is under attacked by monsters?” he asked him. Monster Kid nodded, “We need to stop them before they could cause any more uproar.” They both stood up and Asriel put the remaining berries to his pockets. “Let’s go…”

 

* * *

 

As they left, someone behind the tree was watching. All while he closed his eyesockets. “kid, you should’ve stayed down when you had the chance.” He then passed to another tree and disappeared. Just above the Cliffside of Mt. Ebott, they went to look around to see where the farm was. Asriel had his hand above his forehead while slightly pinched his eyes close to see where, while wind blows his ears. Monster Kid was doing the same thing with his tail. Later, he saw a group fleeing just below them. It seems that Rance was there with some guards and a heavy tank guard with a mace. They were talking about something. The two monsters bend down so that they won’t be spotted, and continued to listen. By the time Rance mentioned “ **They’ll be dead where they stand.** ” He noticed two figures hiding behind some trees, and one of them doesn’t seem to be happy about it. Two monsters came out of the side of the forest and had made an attack, Asriel and Monster Kid were watching closely. When one of the hidden figures had looked up to the Cliffside, the two young monsters had ducked. They waited, while the battle that was happening became more intense. When Monster Kid decides to take a peek, he saw the heavy guard flying towards them. “Asriel, run!” they tried to get away, but his companion’s hair on his foot got stuck in between some rocks as the impact helped him get loose. It hurt him a bit, as Monster Kid helps him get up. A sound of a young girl’s voice was crying, while a motherly voice was begging one of the humans to help her.

Later, they could hear what sounds to be rapid firing. They went to the other edge and took a peek. It was a human who swings the guard’s mace hard and fast. It made one yelp and knocked towards the rock wall, and when he proceeded to the other it was the same outcome. But this time, the mace shattered to a hundred or thousand pieces. Asriel focused on that human, and noticed that his eyes were bewildered and glowing in crimson. Those aren’t normal human eyes. “ _hihihi! Do you like my handiwork?_ ” that familiar teasing voice could be heard from the back. Asriel looked around immediately as tension was rising. There was no one there. “Dude, we got to stop that human!” Monster Kid was becoming worried as the human slowly approaches the two incapacitated wolf monsters.

Asriel then saw Frisk running towards the enraged human. She blocks the way, risking her life to save two monsters. “Why is Frisk there?” Monster Kid asked. In his mind, Chara mentioned something. “ _If Frisk is there, then the other one is…?_ ” Asriel then looked to where they were hiding, and reveals a skeleton in a blue jacket. Watching closely with his left eyesocket glowing a blue eye; Asriel felt a painful chill on his spine not because it was that monster that was there with Frisk, but that monster was looking AT them, Asriel and Monster Kid. His grin isn’t the only that makes him scary, that was a cold fact. Later on, he could hear Frisk begging the other human to stop, and it was working. He did stop and fell on his knees, then Frisk rushed to hug him. That was a sigh of relief for the two. “That was close, Asriel…” He looked at him, but Asriel was still being monitored. “Asriel…?” Monster Kid looked confused as his companion is still in a grip of fear while looking at the skeleton. ‘why is Sans here? Why does he know that we’re here?’ Monster Kid looks down to check what Asriel was looking.

Later, he saw one of the wolf monsters reaching towards Frisk. Sans then nodded his head as he turned his attention to Frisk and the other human; it then made Asriel look down to see what was happening. “Dude, they’re in danger! We gotta do something!” his armless companion stood up from his cover looking at him. And at that moment, when the human guard hugged her tightly while switching places, Asriel knew what to do, but was unsure if it’s okay. Inside his mind, Chara nodded to him in approval. Her body glows from within, and red energy had surged through Asriel’s body. He stood up and raised his right arm. He was filled with **DETERMINATION**.

A small spark of flame appeared before the palm of his hand, and then in extending his arm towards down, a barrage of white fire pellets had fly towards the ones below them recklessly, while growing in size. It caused a panic, and a small impact made the other wolf monster continually lose conscious. In response, the magic he just conjured were flames with hypnotic effects. ‘ _Anyone who felt even a breeze of heat from those will fall asleep. I learned that from Mom when she put Dad to sleep._ ’ Chara mentioned in his mind. “How did you learn that, Chara?” he asked himself as he rubbed his elbow. They were standing exposed, and someone behind them appeared, all while they were glad that the danger is over. “isn’t it time you kids go home and call it a day?” Asriel looks at Monster Kid and, “Way to lighten up the mood with your Sans impression, Monster Kid.” he commended with his sarcasm.

He looked nervous, “Dude, that’s not me…” they both looked back, and saw Sans standing right behind them. His left socket still goes in blue. “you better go, before the humans see you two, **and give everyone a bad time**.” They didn’t have time to think after the blue glow shined brighter, and ran away without hesitation to the other side. Like kids who run away from trouble, Asriel and Monster Kid didn’t look back. They went back to their usual hiding spot, panting in exhaustion. Sans chuckled lightly as he went back with the others. Later on, Dianne appeared on the Cliffside and found some white fur, and two monster footprints. She knew Monster Kid’s footprints by the trail he left when he went into her tent, but who was the other?

Deeper in the forest, Monster Kid turned his attention to Asriel and asked, “Dude! I don’t know why we need to run away from him?” he tries to recover breath and faced his companion, “With your powers he wouldn’t stand a chance against—“ and just before he could finish his sentence, Asriel put his finger on the middle of his companion’s mouth to shut him up while facing down to recover some air. As soon as he was done breathing in enough air, he disagrees.

“When I was still that evil flower back then…” he whistles out more air, and as he stood up properly and faced his companion, “Let’s just say… He is more dangerous than dad, and out-powered me tenfold.” Monster Kid wouldn’t believe what he just said. “So, you’re saying that…. Sans can…. Anyone…Even Frisk?” Asriel nodded and pants before talking, “Frisk wouldn’t last a second if Sans decide to take things seriously.” Without further delay, they started walking to the other side of the outer camp and talked about Papyrus’ brother. “Sans is that powerful? Then why didn’t he break the barrier with it?” Monster Kid asked while wagging his tail. If Asriel’s had a longer tail, it would be wagging along with Monster Kid’s. “He tried, countless times… Until, he finally gave up and accepted his fate in the Underground.” Monster Kid looks down and took what he just learned about Sans. The reason why he was so lazy but funny, was so that

“Does Papyrus know about what Sans is doing?” Asriel’s chest felt heavy when Monster Kid asked him that. He gripped his own shirt to his own chest, and remembered the times Papyrus believed and followed Flowey recklessly. Even so far as to defend him against his own brother. The countless times he played him for a puppet, and had him doing the worst things. In every reset, the first monster he toys with is Papyrus, and when Sans finds out that he was messing with him, he shredded the small flower with bones grinding from above and below him. There was also the time when Sans made three of his Gaster Blasters ransack the small plant monster, like rabid dogs viciously shredding off a stuffed animal. Asriel could remember all that, but why didn’t he remember the ‘plan’ when Flowey mentioned it to him?

“…No, he doesn’t. And he shouldn’t know.” Asriel looked forward, and without a word he walked and hit himself to a tree without knowing. His arms and foot extended to the sides of the tree, and then walks back to recover. “Owww….!” He rubbed his nozzle to relief the pain, all while he slowly walks back. Monster Kid couldn’t stop laughing, as if he saw one of the slapstick shows on Monster TV. “Why didn’cha warn me that I was walking to a tree?!” Asriel asked his companion. “I tried, but you were so deep in your thought that I thought Chara was controlling you.”

“ _I was, and Asriel’s thoughts were all over the place._ ” Asriel’s voice changed into Chara all while she takes over with a sassy tone. “ _Let us go somewhere safer. If one of the humans have seen you, Monster Kid, then you’re the first monster to be suspected later on._ ” She rationalized the thought, that left her companion shaking in little fear. “ _Come on, MK. Big boys aren’t scared of a human, right?_ ” Chara teased while grinning as Asriel. “N-no. I’m not scared!” he puffed his chest and acted brave. They continued walking to the south-west part of the forest, just a few blocks away from the camp.

 

* * *

 

At night, Ice Wolf and his friends were having a drink. Then his phone rang from his pants and flipped it open. “Hey, Ice Wolf here…. Huh? He is at the camp right now…. He ran away from home? I thought he was with his dad…… I’ll call you as soon as I find him…. Heh, Kid can be very sneaky at times like this. Maybe he’s playing Hide and Seek with someone… Sure, sure. I’ll send him back as soon as I find him…. No, my pants are okay…. A shirt? Yeah, thanks…. Well, the King was given approval that we can build our home here at the surface…. Tell your mother the good news! Yeah, I’ll tell Mac about Kid… Oh, the supplies need to be prepared now… Yeh, talk to you later….”

-To be continued…


	3. [Flowey] Strings and Vines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here, apologizing for the delay on the update. We currently have no internet at home [mainly because our ISP suddenly changed policies without informing us], so I am forced to use Limited Mobile Data. We have another extra, instead of a main.

                It was already 5:30 in the morning, and the three monsters were sitting on a log watching the sun rise. It’s been a long night, but Sans had to have a conversation with the two. Asriel explained his side, while still having no idea why he maintained his form. MK also shared that it was his idea to tour him to the Hotlands, but wasn’t aware of the situation. In the end, he tagged along because he knew that from the beginning he met Asriel, he’s going to have a blast, both literal and a figure of speech. Chara kept tabs on Sans just in case he gives them a ‘bad time’, but the only that happened to them was to have a conversation. It made some sense, and his given assumption to the humans about the ‘flower’ was right all along. While conversing, Sans did notice something was off: Asriel seems to be different.

                “hey kid. do you remember what you did once when you killed asgore?” That question from Sans disturbed Asriel, and his body shook in disgust. “I did that? Why would I do that?!” he raised a tone, all while his energy seemed to be low. Sans just smiled and stood up from the log, and said with a tired voice, “i dunno. that’s why i asked.” He was there when Frisk fought Asgore, and because everyone had let their guard down when she decided to spare him, a flower had shot several pellets toward the weakened King. It was one of many instances that he could never forget. “ _You can’t blame him, that. After all, he wasn’t really himself back then._ ” His tone of voice shifted to a double tone of both his and Chara, but Sans didn’t feel any malicious intents. “heh, you pulled through. all these years, you’ve been watching over us.” Asriel made an out-of-character grin while slightly pinching his eyes half closed; all while looking towards the rising sun to make a cool stance. It didn’t take long before he looked away while blocking his eyes with his hand, as he realized that it was too bright for him to look at it at an extended time.

                “ _I want to fix the problem I made, and also my best friend’s trust to himself. He blames himself for what happened, when I’m really the one who caused the problem._ ” He looked down on the ground. This isn’t really Chara at all. Something is off, and Sans could feel it tingling from his insides. He just brushed it off with a grin expression, and started walking few steps forward. It was his time to leave, and before he continued. “next time, don’t leave any more of your **fur**. girls might turn furry if they find the source.” Asriel and Chara looked confused at that point, but for some reason MK is getting the idea, before landing his face to the ground, falling asleep. In all honesty, Sans is referring to the human girl. He warped away, and before long the two had to go somewhere to get some rest. Was this their punishment, for leaving trails?

Whatever the reason, they just shook it as their eyelids slowly became heavy. “ _Maybe I can still muster up some strength for you two to find a place to rest._ ” With that suggestion, Chara took over and transformed Asriel to his adult form. She couldn’t hold his body for much longer, so he carried the sleeping companion on his back and flew away. At that point on as they fly up high, they saw an endless field of flowers while the sun rising up shone too bright for the flying monster to see well. Chara couldn’t think of any risk, as her best friend’s body weighed her control down. They made a landing on the patch of flowers in the middle, and soon after he lay his sleeping friend on a patch of flowers, he reverts back to his child form. No longer could they handle the exhaustion, Asriel’s body fell next to MK’s.

                “ _Sweet dreams, Asriel._ ” From the inside, she smiled with warmth before letting his thoughts drift away in a dream.

* * *

 

                It was 8am, and the humans are preparing to depart. With the tents removed, and the building resources ready, the King of the Humans had given the King of Monsters a contract. A legitimate deed with his signature; and a proof that this part of the land is theirs with other legitimate rights to build their own homes, and put up their own policies. Two kings had exchanged gratitude and farewell, and while they were saying Goodbyes, Frisk was giving her final hug with Toriel. “We’ll see you later, Frisk.” She gently brushes the child’s hair, and then giving her a kiss on the forehead. Frisk nodded, and let go of her. For a while, it seems like Toriel couldn’t let go but she has to. Frisk was never really her child to begin with as she ran towards her father. Realizing that, made her sad for a moment. “I’ll see you again, Mom!” hearing Frisk call her ‘mom’ made her happy. King Farlon looked anxious for a moment. Did Frisk finally moved on from her past and found herself another mother to be with? It somewhat hurt him inside.

                “King Asgore~” A pleasant tone of a young maiden had greeted him. He looked to his side and found himself ambushed with a high-jump hug. King Asgore fell on the ground, as Dianne got him on a tight lock while she rubs her cheek towards the monster King’s face. He couldn’t help but feel helpless while he could just blankly smile like a lifeless monster doll, all while falling prey to a young human girl. To her, she really like cute or big furry monsters, and Asgore is one of them. “That’s enough, Young Dianne.” King Farlon commanded her. She lets go and gives the other king a brimming smile; she’s satisfied. Asgore curled up and shivered for a moment for feeling so pathetic.

Some of the soldiers couldn’t help but make an awkward smile, due to what happened earlier. While back at the tent, where the two wolf monsters are recovering from an unexpected ambush, as well… Their eyes were swirling, and their fur were pretty much bewildered. Führi’s chest was lying flat on the surface bed, with left leg twitching upward as his arm dangle at the side of the bed, while Klaus was sitting on his bed wide awake, hugging his knees and rocking himself back to his sanity. The guards from outside can assume that he’s trying to think of happy thoughts. Dianne seem to have marked her targets pretty well with her ambush cuddling. Upon regaining composure, Asgore stood up and fixed himself. “Young Dianne…. Please do not do that again.” She looked at him with eyes glimmering and asked, “again~?” She is completely out of character and it somehow jolted the good king, imagining several Danger signs pointing from the rogue girl’s head. Just yesterday, she weighted pressure on them in suspicion, and now she’s acting like a pure and innocent child.

Papyrus walks in while fixing his scarf; he didn’t understand what just happened but proceeded to join with them. While doing so, Dianne shook her focus towards the tall skeleton. But he didn’t mind her aura. It wasn’t noticeable for the undead, even though Papyrus and Sans are a special case. He was carefree. He just smiled with both eye sockets glowing in green, and without noticing he just analyzed Dianne’s statistics.

[Dianne Vor     STR: C  AGI: S+  INT: S+  HP: 100%  FP: 130%  Status: Healthy, Happy]

                Papyrus can be very keen with his ability to analyze people and monsters’ statistics by making his eyes glow at them. Back in the underground, no one liked being analyzed as they scold him whenever he does so. Each variable are acronyms: STR means Strength Toughness and Resistance, AGI means Agility Go and Initiate, and INT means Instinct Neutrality and Thinking level. While HP means Health Points, for monsters, MP means Magic Points, and for humans, FP means Focus Points. Humans never had learned magic, unless they are taught. If they have, then they will gain their own MP mark, as Sans once explained.

Sans was able do the same in the past, but because he can only glow one eye socket while barely being able to glow the other, he lost that ability. What happened back then made him forget most of his younger days , but he didn’t mind after forgetting what he forgot, while focusing his attention to become a Royal Guard. It was a sad incident, but his brother doesn’t seem to bring up the topic of the past. Right now, he’s as cheerful as always. Unless Undyne mention the conveyer belt and the senseless vomiting. As of now, Sans gave his brother a free pass to use his analytical ability for no mentioned reason and his King seem to have allowed him for the day, only to provide his first ‘secret’ reporting duty.

                “Where’s Young Rance?” King Asgore’s question brought Dianne’s fun-side to an end, while putting her clenched hand on her mouth, coughing to regain her composure. “My brother is being transferred to the city hospital to be further examined.” In an instant, she became strict again. All because she seem to worry for her hospitalized brother. Undyne patted her back with brute strength, which seem to have impact on Dianne and said, “Your brother will be fine!” while giving her an honest grin; a warrior’s eye can tell. “If not, then I’ll rush there and knock his senses back to the surface!!!” she raised her clenched fist to threaten. Toriel joins the fray and gave Undyne a pull on her hear. “Owowowow!!!” she walks back with the queen to prevent her from tearing her ear off.

                Papyrus approached Frisk with a pride stance, “HUMAN FRISK. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT BECOMING LONELY AT YOUR HUMBLE ABODE.” At that point, King Farlon’s body shivered with both a cold and irritating feeling, as the skeleton continued. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE VISITING YOU WITH EVERYONE EVERYDAY, AND CONTINUE OUR DATE.” His loud and annoying voice seem to have caused King Farlon to put a finger on his right ear, while trying to clear it from a probably headache-inducing voice. Papyrus looked around to find someone, and soon he facepalm in disappointment and screamed out with both hands just above his shoulders. “OH MY GOD, SANS!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!” Asgore then patted his shoulder and answered that his brother is resting. As the human King finished trying to pull out any earwax from his ear, “Papyrus, is it?” he asks him calmly. “YES???” a loud and glee reply followed, then again it irritated King Farlon enough to make him visibly shiver. He then whispered something to Frisk, and moved about 3 feet away with his horse. Papyrus tilted his head in question at the King, while checking the human King’s stats.

[King Farlon     STR: B  AGI: S  INT: A-  HP: 85%  FP: 55%  Status: Ill, Irritated]

His soldiers move way for the King and understood why. When he nodded towards her daughter, Frisk then goes to Papyrus and conveyed her father’s message: “My father said to never talk in his presence… Again.” They both frowned. Papyrus then whispered to Frisk by putting his hand just about her ear, “okay….” He lowered his voice to something so low, his meek voice sounded like a normal whisper. Papyrus and Frisk both laughed; and upon hearing his voice, it shook King Farlon’s whole body. He then proceeds to move away by another meter. Everyone seem to have laughed, while the King frowned. “Come along now, Frisk.” He beckoned his daughter, and she followed cheerfully.

They all gathered to say their goodbyes, and seeing her friends interact well with others; and with other soldiers bidding farewell to the monsters they became friends with, gave Frisk a reason to go back home. Her eyes were filled with DETERMINATION, as they gleam with the sun. She’s ready to face her fate while stating her position as the Monster’s Ambassador. King Farlon helped her ride the horse with him as they depart. Giving final farewells for the day; every monster waved goodbye with one last stat analysis.

[Frisk     STR: D  AGI: A  INT: B  HP: 100%  FP: 100%  MP: 5%  Status: Healthy, Determined]

A few hours later, Sans was still sleeping in his bed while there is no tent covering them, while Papyrus was bothered. He thought, of all the days to be lazy, this one is unforgivable. Since he was the only one who didn’t bid farewell. Papyrus wanted to wake him up but he noticed something different about his brother. Sans isn’t napping comfortably, but more likely irritated. He moves from left to right, while a snore creates a bubble from his nose holes. He checked his statistics, and this time it was a big surprise for him. Before, what Papyrus can analyze to his brother are mostly E’s with his INT on ???, but now his statistics seem to have improved.

[Sans     STR: D  AGI: D  INT: S+  HP: 100%  MP: 25%  Status: Unhealthy, Recovering]

                “NYEHEHEH… YOU’RE FINALLY WORKING YOURSELF TO THE BONE. HUH, SANS?” he humoured himself, while patting his brother’s head as he sleeps. In spite of his tone being calm, his voice is still loud and headache-inducing. But Sans slept like a log, with a whispering sound while fidgeting in his bed. “HMMM….?” Papyrus moved his head closer to his brother’s to hear what he’s saying. “…dad….i’m sorry…” For the first time did Papyrus heard him say something like that. Something got Papyrus thinking. Before long, he left him to rest, troubled by the thought. He never saw Sans actually work back in the underground, and never did he mentioned that word.

Upon walking he sees the King with his construction attire: Hard helmet with flowers, pink shirt and jumper pants, and work gloves. His gloves have rune crystals which might be needed in his work. The rest of the construction workers have scattered throughout the open field with equipment needed. Alphys gave all his blueprints for Asgore to read, and then returns them to her. “Alright, get ready everyone!” Asgore had commanded with an excited tone of voice. He clapped both hands together and a sound of ding had echoed. He then bends down and slammed both hands to the ground. Lines started to grow as it continually extends toward the forest. From where Papyrus stand, shapes and insignias are forming without understanding it. But from above, the King had created a city-wide magic circle. The insignia of the monster’s emblem: The Delta rune had shined at its brightest with different colors, while other lines, shapes and symbols have extended. Few seconds later, the lines have moved upwards and into the mid-air. Illusions of shapes have formed into buildings, and the air had become more stable. Any wind blowing into the circle had been limited, while the weather had been fixated into a mild sunny day. Just before outside the circle are highlighted with bright glowing lines in creating water gaps, while before that are for the walls. They are going to create a border so that any outsiders could not easily infiltrate.

The circle Asgore created was a wide area-of-effect magic buff that gives everyone a maximum agility, stamina and strength boost, while filtering unwanted status changes from within. This magic with an extended area can only be learned through years of study and practice, as well as honing one’s skill to amplify his or her own magic. Papyrus only knew some highlights of the king’s kind as masters of magic, but he then proceeded to check his stats to verify.

[King Asgore-     STR: A (+100%)  AGI: A(+100%)  INT: A(-25%)  HP: 72%  MP:  10%  Status: Healthy, Buffed]

                Papyrus had looked around and saw that everyone else had a buff boost, including himself. He also noticed that time had become slower at the outside; it seems that the magic had four effects: Ability Buff, Acceleration, Environment Maintenance, and Imagine Reality. With this magic, he could win any wars as long as his channeling is successful. “WOWIE! I FEEL LIKE I CAN DO ANYTHING WITH THIS!” Without wasting any moment, everyone who is a construction worker had moved rapidly while following the imaginary outlines as they proceed in building. They start casting magic to life weights, create holes, and even manipulate the cement ingredients as if they are using a cement mixer.

The small monsters are in charge of accelerating tree growth, chopping them down into construction wood, and using the seeds to regrow them back. The leaves are gathered by some and used their ability to convert scattered leaves into hard leaf stones. The medium-size monsters use additional self-buff magic to be able to carry the materials to the designated spot, while the large monsters are in charge of putting the building together, including Asgore himself. The two rogue wolf monsters are forced to work with them, or they won’t be eating anything at all, Asgore declared to them earlier. Toriel had already head some of the injuries the two had, and are using their earth-splitting magic in creating river holes and for the walls. There are two other monster groups composed of mixed sizes who are tasked to do something else.

Toriel’s group are in charge of cooking, while Undyne’s group with the Royal Guards are in charge of assisting in re-stocking supplies from the underground to the surface. Even though they can use magic to create their own supplies, it is still a must for them to restock from their spares so that they would not consume too much magic. The leaf stones that were created are used as substitute coals, but more effective in terms of amplifying fire for cooking and forging. In an accelerated effort, they have already created a number of houses with just an hour. Not only that, none of them are even exhausted.

Papyrus was forced to join in Undyne’s group, while Sans is free to rest. As their group had left the large circle, time had resumed normally. While looking back, made everyone looked like they are moving five times faster, almost equal to how the Vor siblings blur away. But upon entering the circle with the supplies later, time outside had slowed down. In half a day, the monsters had already created the half city, and without the castle. When Sans finally woke up, he’s already in a house. In a room, there are no other furniture but his bed. He then looked outside the window glass and saw everyone working hard to build the remaining projects needed for their city. Without wasting any time, he warped somewhere.

* * *

 

By night time, the glowing circle had faded and everyone was left exhausted. Several big camping tables were prepared before the sun was set, and it is a convenient for the monsters to use it for their occasion. Toriel’s group had stepped in with a large feast, and everyone will be having their dinner soon. Papyrus was shaking in exhaustion as he sits with the rest; everyone was so hungry that they had to ask for more servings before feeling satisfied. Toriel had brought up a plate to Papyrus with a smile, as she congratulated everyone for the hard work. Everyone had raised their mugs and glasses and greeted cheers, while Asgore doesn’t seem to go along.

Among everyone, their King and Sans who are sitting next to each other were the only ones silent. And not just because of the fatigue he’s having for using up his MP. While eating, his nightmare had flashed before his eyes. The war that lead to countless monsters dying one by one, the declaration of their loss, and their suffering at the Underground. Sans was also giving the same expression, but he had a different idea as to what is bugging him. Both of them barely finished their first serving, and it grew concerned for Alphys, Papyrus, Toriel and Undyne. While the two are eating slowly and spacing out, Toriel had greeted Sans. Undyne gives King Asgore a strong pat at the back, but there was little energy to respond. “Oh, hello Undyne.” He looked at her with almost no energy to even smile. “oh. hey, tori.” Same with Sans, and it bothered them more.

Before Toriel could ask any questions, Asgore stood up and left with his plate. He’s not in the mood to talk to anyone, all while Sans looked at his plate with a a grim response. Both his hands are dangling down instead of putting them in his pockets. His expression even stopped Toriel from even asking anything. “SANS, IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG?” Papyrus tried, but there was no reply. Sans tried taking up a spoon, but stops halfway. He’s not eating anything, and it worried Alphys and Undyne.

The two know Sans well enough to make a facade or a pun to clear the bad mood, despite his troubles. But instead, he’s literally showing that he has a problem and it might be something he couldn’t just joke with. Toriel wants to do something, but she couldn’t seem to think of a way to say anything. “Toriel, you go comfort Asgore. We’ll take it from here.” Undyne seems serious, while she turns her attention towards Alphys. “Y-yeah. We know Sans well enough, so you g-go help the King.” Toriel declines the favour by shaking her head while giving a cold reply. “Let the King sulk for tonight. He doesn’t want to ta—“ At that moment, Undyne furiously punched Toriel strong enough force herself to step back. It got everyone’s attention, except for the two skeletons. Papyrus is still shaking his brother back to his senses without noticing anything else.  

                Undyne was gritting her teeth in irritation, while Toriel was snapped back from that sudden blow. “What was that for?!” Toriel held her cheek as she turned her attention towards the other. “’What was that for?’ Don’t you know the King has been hell depressed ever since you not only left him, but also humiliated him in front of the humans?!” Undyne is giving her side, while all she could do for the King was to comfort him as a friend. Toriel landed a heavy slap towards the other, enough to slam her face towards the ground. “Are you saying that he’s depressed now because of that?! You simpleton, you don’t know him well enough than I!” the exchange of heated sentences are forcing the others to stay quiet and listen. Toriel continues, “In casting that magic circle, it will take most of his energy to ensure that everyone can work efficiently, without feeling exhaustion during the duration. And you’re telling me that he’s feeling neglected because I left him?! You should’ve known that from the start!” Undyne clicks her tongue as she struggles in standing up.

                “Of course, I know that!!” She thrust her palms unto Toriel’s chest, enraged with the other’s heartless response. It pushed the other by a few centimeters, and in that response Toriel recovered with both hands blazing. Undyne continued, “But for that brat’s caretaker, and for her to recognize you as a good mother, you should’ve known better how your ex-husband feels!!!” Undyne forged her own spear out of the blue, and with the night’s cold breeze she could feel that she could strengthen her spear twice as hard. There’s going to be battle between the two, and everyone had to step back. Krauser had to pull back the two skeletons so that they wouldn’t get caught, while Führi continues to observe. Alphys and Mettaton stepped in to join Undyne’s side, for Toriel to be their opponent would be a difficult battle. “Darling, despite that the King had used up that amount of energy, his emotions shouldn’t be lower than that.” Mettaton gives his suggestion, while strangely raising his leg in a queer dramatic stance to block the way. “T-that’s right. My granparents t-told me that even using that kind of magic, he should be able to have some left for him to make a cheer.” Alphys mustered her focus so that she wouldn’t stutter much, while hiding behind Undyne.

                Without warning, a barrage of blue and red fire had dropped from the sky, which caused a heated impact enough for Toriel’s long ears to flow back her head. They all turned their attention to the King, who just returned from his walk with an empty plate. His eyes were the same as back when he declared war on the humans; and he’s not too happy for what’s happening in front of him. Undyne could feel a strange aura coming from the King, and it was just the same as Toriel’s when she had a night terror. “That’s enough fighting, for both of you!” he dictates. Undyne couldn’t say any more than what she expressed. She wanted the King, and his best friend to get back at Toriel, but her assumption and intervention was unnecessary.

                Asgore continued with a low tone of voice, “Undyne, may I remind you one more time to leave that issue out of it…” Alphys was about to open her mouth, but he caught up before a voice had even come out of it. “Not a word from you!” he’s angrier than everyone had thought. Everyone knew him to be the kind, soft king who will not even raise a tone unless absolutely necessary. Führi knew that well enough as he recalled Asgore scolding one of Toriel’s previous helpers. In this case, this is King Asgore’s other side of the coin: from that kind pushover king, to a terrifying tyranny, and never will he raise his voice to anyone for more than three attempts. Asgore then turned his head towards Toriel, with eyes glimmering in crimson red. It was a split second, his glare pierced her heart strong enough to make her fall on her back. It was fear, in a form of magic. It was like a thin arrow struck her emotions to grow cold; her will to fight or even talk back was shattered before her. Toriel started shaking in fear, as Asgore made this declaration clear for everyone, “Toriel, even though I still loved you to the very end, and you may have not given any respect to me, ever since you left my side… I will not tolerate you harming our kind!”

It was already clear that Undyne started the fight, but he seems to press the issue on her, ”As it was clarified by her before, that she is no longer the Queen of the monsters. And to make myself clear, this **bitch** is no longer and never will be my wife…!” That last part was something no one was expecting to hear from Asgore, not even that word. “Undyne, have Grillby summoned by tomorrow. He will be my chef for the time being. The rest can still enjoy this woman’s cooking and her _kind generosity_. **I won’t**.” His cold commands even forced Undyne not to respond with her feelings. “Yes, your highness.” was the only thing she could say. Everyone starts to make a commotion, but when the king turned his attention to them they are forced to be quiet. Asgore faced everyone with that frown, “For everyone who still thinks that they can mend my bonds with her, I suggest you give that up and not to speak of this event to anyone.” His cold tone is calming back to his usual tone. He turns around with his eyes regaining back to its usual color. Toriel seems to be out of the King’s magic effects, but after his declaration all she could do is sit up on the ground with her hands down, and cry. Alphys approached Toriel to comfort, as tears were dropping from her face. Undyne couldn’t believe what she just heard, and never could she just accept that. Those weren’t Asgore’s words that came out of his mouth. It was someone else’s, and she get the feeling that it won’t be the first time she’ll ever hear those kind of words.

                Asgore walked out of the woods, and went to the same direction as to where he encountered that flower. As he got there, there was no sign of life anywhere. And in the corner of the walls, he fell on his knees and cried furiously. “why….why did I say those words…?” if anyone were to be nearby, they would’ve heard his cry in disgrace. Those declarations weren’t his words at all. He just felt like saying all that when he got back, and someone from the shadows seem to be enjoying his discord. Meanwhile, Papyrus was still trying to snap his brother back, but there was no response. It’s been a while, and he doesn’t seem to know what to do.

“CAN ANYONE HELP MY BROTHER???”

* * *

 

                It was night, at the Human Capital’s finest hospital. Rance was starting to regain consciousness from his bed, and was welcomed back with a young girl’s hug. “ohhh, WHAT?!” he didn’t hear her greetings as he was surprised by the hug. He struggled to push the person away, but both his hands were cuffed to the metal bed’s side. Even his legs were cuffed. She pulled back and revealed herself. “I’m so glad that you’re okay now..” Bianca’s face was close to Rance as she smiles at him with relief, while Dianne pulls her back like a child to give him some personal space. “ugh, hey!” she retorts at his sister. “That’s not how nurses nurse patients back to health.” She stated, while letting her go. A while later, Dianne and Rance are alone in the room. “How are you feeling?” she asked plainly, “I’m fine now…” he answered plainly. The two siblings talk as if they’re still on duty, while giving themselves a cold exchange of glare. “Do you remember what you did back there?” she asks.

                Rance couldn’t respond to her question without thinking it over. “No… I blacked out.”

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are some things to keep in mind. Flowey may not have appeared, but his 'plan' seems to be going swimmingly. Papyrus just revealed one of his abilities, and it might come in handy in the future. As for Toriel... You'll find out on the next chapter, along with what's really bothering Asgore and Sans to force them to be out of character.


	4. [Asriel/Chara and Frisk] A Game of Tag/Verify

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here, and delivering you guys some news. As you may have noticed, I moved the post date to Friday or Saturday, due to headache experiences during Sundays. And I bring you guys a fresh out of the batch extra. The main will be delayed, since there is ~~one last extra pending.~~ Don't worry, things are about to heat up for both sides. Well, see you again on Friday. :)

                At the castle. Asriel, Frisk and MK are taking a quiz in different spots. Frisk is answering her questionnaires at her room on her study table, Asriel is answering on their room on their bed, while MK is answering his paper on their room on their study table. After their clocks started ringing, they went to their room and placed their papers on their study table. Since MK doesn’t have any arms, Frisk gave consideration of going to their room, all while Asriel answered his on their bed so that the armless monster could write his on a solid table with a pen on his mouth. Once the papers are on the table, MK stood from his chair and let Chara took over, checking everyone’s sheet of paper. Asriel giving an unusual expression always give Frisk a strange expression that Chara is enjoying her time using the goat child’s body. Frisk takes a closer look, so that Chara wouldn’t tamper with their answers, but Asriel looks back at the peeking child with a frown, “ _You must have misunderstood my intentions. I am checking your papers fairly. It would be a burden to cheat for my best friend, now wouldn’t it?_” She said. MK also peeks in, and just when he glanced a bit, Chara gathered the sheets into one bundle. “ _As for the test results, Frisk got the highest. 6 over 10. You must try to do better at math._ ” Asriel hands him her paper, with some of the math problems crossed.

                “ _Asriel passed, with 5 out of 10… You guys need someone to tutor you with basic math… I know the basics, but you need to hear it from an adult, not me. MK got the same score, since some of his answers are almost close to correct._ ” She said while putting his paper on the table. Not too long, Asriel regains control and saw half of them had red marks. “Wait, why is this wrong?! Oh, so the answer for 6x9 is 53. Okay! Uhm, how is it 53 and not 69?” Asriel talking to himself, from being angry, calm, and confused makes it hard to read him. Frisk looks at MK’s paper: number one is 5+7 is 12, number two is 3x3 is 8, number three is 10-10 is 0, number four is 6x9 is 52, number five is 100/10 is 10, number six is 3+3+3 is 9, number seven is 72/9 is 8, number eight is 42-35 is 6, number nine is 4x4 is 14, and number ten is 8x8 is 48. It’s funny how a dead person still knows the basic of math, but regardless they did fairly on their first math test. MK jumps on the bed and drilled his head towards the left pillow. “Ugh, I hate math!” he complained. Asriel puts his paper on the table as he grabs a free pillow and screamed at it. Frisk gives a sigh as she puts her on their table as well. MK turns around while he lays on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “Dudes, I’m beat… I need to…. Zzzzz” he falls asleep almost immediately. It can’t be helped, but Frisk and Asriel aren’t sleepy yet.

                “Hey, Asriel. Wanna play tag?” Frisk gives a cheerful tone. It could only be one thing, and Asriel doesn’t like the idea. She continued, “Since we have that, we should try tagging everyone in the castle grounds if they have the seed or not.” He’s having second thoughts while she gives her mischievous grin; she did mention that she could run away from almost everyone. And the only ones who are able to caught her in act are Rance and Dianne, but now she’s free to do what she wants. “Frisk, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” The concerned goat child warns her of her action, but she gives a careless reply, “Don’t worry. What we’re doing can also benefit everyone, like preventing a sudden rage from a victim or something.” She insists, despite the risk of him being seen. In all honesty, even Chara is thinking of her actions. Before she could give a response from Asriel’s head, he nodded and said, “Fine. But I need to cloak myself.” His answer alerted Chara. He barely has enough to get cloaked for another half hour, but he gives his condition. “We meet back here in 10 minutes, because I can’t cloak myself for long.” His MP is running low, and using that ability for more than three hours took 85% off his meter.

                “I only have 20 minutes of cloak before my magic runs out.” He explains. “You’re on!” she gives a pumped up response. Her eyes are filled with DETERMINATION, and with that his eyes were also ignited. Chara scratches her hair, thinking that the two are too young to think of the dangers they could be leading into. What if one of them goes berserk? It would alert everyone in the castle, or what if Asriel’s cloak runs out before he could even get back to his room? Different scenarios, same possible outcomes. “Whoever tag and confirm that the seed breaks the most, wins.” Asriel once again rotates his flaming hands around him until his frame goes full transparent. “Go!” The door opens, and the two children start running off. The grandfather clock ticks in the middle of the hall. It is now 4:30pm.

* * *

 

                Frisk ran towards the throne room at the second floor, where her father is listening to a guy in a suit giving reports. “Those are the updates for this week.” The suited man had provided, before putting his papers back into the folder. The King sits on his throne room, while six guards stand by their pillars. The throne room also serve as courtroom, wherein while cases are not opened the tables and chairs are cleared off at the back. A total of eight people are in this room, and Frisk has a good lead. She opens the door started running towards the suited man. She bump her hands unto his’ which made the documents fall to the ground, “Frisk, what is the meaning of thi—“ the King stands up, and then with a surprise shove she was able to have him sit back into his throne. The guards mobilize to catch her, but the guards are too slow for her. She tags them by the neck, arm, thigh, and even at the back of their heads. She looks back with a hand glow, and it only confirmed that there were five of them who had the seed. She runs away to the hall, wherein three maids with short sleeves are having a conversation, while one of them is pushing a food trolley. She didn’t hesitate to run towards them and tagged them. It caused a commotion, “Guards! Apprehend my daughter this instant!” King Farlon stands up again. Frisk just confirmed that eight people had the seed.

* * *

 

                Asriel went to the first floor hall way, thinking that there are many humans to tag there. With a quick sprint, he bumped into some soldiers which made them think what hit them. It seems that none of them had the seed, since their necks didn’t glow. The place is rather spacious, but he needs to choose one that has a lot of people. In doing so, he went to the left side of the stairway, revealing a door. He takes a peek, and without warning a maid came out with a vacuum cleaner. She bumps into him, making him fall on the floor. “Oh, excuse me miss…. Huh?” she looks around in question to see that no one is there. “I could’ve swore that I bumped into someone.” She walks to the side and proceeds to go somewhere else. Asriel stands up, only to feel something warm on his hand. It looks like she had a seed. Proceeding to the room, there are five butlers getting ready for their next shift, while a couple are having a pow wow flirt. He snuck there and did something out of character, with open palms he smacks the maid’s back and then when she looked around a nearby butler was tying his shoes by the bed. The maid approached the butler and slaps him, at the same time Asriel held unto his hand for only a short while. “What was that for?!” the butler asks, while standing up with his shoes almost tied. Chara had a fun idea, and whispered something to him.

                The other maids from the second floor, and some of the butlers join in, which made things convenient. The room Asriel went in must be their bedrooms, but counting the beds total to twenty people, and by count there are about seven maids and nine butlers. ‘a total of sixteen. Four more, should give me a win.’ Chara commends him for having that one right. With a commotion, he noticed that one of the maids had a safety pin on her back. Undoing it made her skirt fall off, and then caused a commotion. For a split second, he tagged everyone before an unnecessary conflict occurs. Moving around, while avoiding their movements. His foot brushed the butler’s shoelace a little, which caused it to untie itself. From the inside, Chara rolled her eyes with a frown, thinking that guy would get fired for failing to secure his shoelaces. Asriel makes a run for it, confirming about ten of them having the seed. He left the room, while three guards are trying to stop the fight.

* * *

 

                Frisk went to the kitchen; the place is spacious enough for eight chefs to work in it. With only four chefs having a busy afternoon cooking for tonight’s dinner, Frisk nimbly bumps into them, and all four had a glow without even noticing. The chefs are too preoccupied in cooking than taking notice of anything else. One of them who looks like a brute is stirring up a batch, while two fairly sized chefs are cooking fish. The skinny one is cleaning the utensils, while checking the oven if the pie is finally baked. While she admires their unrivaled focus in cooking, the six guards suddenly storm in and Frisk circled them, while running out of the room.

* * *

 

Asriel went to the other side of the stairway door and encountered a number of doors. He noticed that on the other side of the hall, Frisk ran to her left door, all while six guards are chasing after her. She must’ve caused them a trouble for them to chase after her. All while Asriel’s brow twitched imagining what she did, Chara told him to get his game face on and take the other door. He went there, only to find a spacious bathroom, enough for about five people to shower. The bathroom is unisex, so both male and female can take a bath. Chara’s brow twitched, thinking of the King’s intention. At the throne room, King Farlon stands up from his throne and walk towards the door. Before he could even touch the big handle, he sneezed loud which seem to have alerted some guards who happen to be nearby. “The King is sick, quick get the medicine!” one alerted the other, as they start rushing to the tower pharmacy. King Farlon rubs his nose a little and saw blood coming out of it, before grabbing a napkin in his sleeve. Opening the door made the commotion outside more noticeable.

                Asriel was done at the bathroom and went to where Frisk entered. The room he entered was a two-floor library room filled with books, globes hanging on the ceiling, and even a desk set which makes the room look like a class study room. There are two stairs connecting to a second floor bookshelf is like a long balcony of books, and the window was rather tall, almost reaching to the ceiling. Just outside is a beautiful garden filled with different types of flowers arranged to make give anyone relief just by seeing it. This place is amazing, and with all that anyone who comes here will be motivated to learn. Toriel would love teaching her students in a place like this, Chara assumes. The quiet scenery was abruptly dismissed as Frisk makes a run for it. Asriel had to move aside, before anyone would accidentally bump into an invisible monster. From his perception, it looks like the guards were already tagged. Which might count Frisk with a total of 12. He only had 10, so he needs 2 or 3 more to pick up the pace. He left the room and went outside.

* * *

 

                Around five in the afternoon, Rance in his brown clothing jacket finally arrives at the castle grounds in the mover’s truck. He decided to stay with his stuff to ensure that his prized spears are not stolen or damaged. Two loud knocks were heard before one of the movers opened the hatch. It looks like it’s his cue to get out of the truck and make sure that his belongings are delivered safely. Because of his sudden occupation change by the King, he is forced to move out of his own home and into the castle. He’s also aware of the two monsters staying there, but because he’s going to be Frisk’s bodyguard he needs to keep vigilant guard. It’s Frisk he’s dealing with, what could go wrong? He thought. As soon as the outside guards have opened the door, Rance’s mood was forever ruined by the wild goose chase. Well-trained guards who could go toe-to-toe with him are running around chasing the Princess, maids that he knew to be well-behave are having a riot, and the King is looking for an opening.

                From one duty to another, it felt like his role as the bodyguard should be in play at all times. “Take them to my room. Have one of the maids guide you there.” He said, while cuffing his sleeves to his upper arm. And in a split second, he blurred out and went all around the castle in search for the princess.

* * *

                Asriel and Frisk finally scored an equal of 13. But with a large number of guards chasing her, along with her father, they are forced in a draw. A total of 41 people are in the castle, counting Frisk and King Farlon, sixteen servants, four chefs, a guest, and twenty guards. Only 26 are confirmed to have seeds, and they were all taken care of. Now, since there are no more people to tag they have to race back to their rooms.

The goat child’s cloak went by for almost thirty minutes, and it’s ready to cancel itself. He’s completely exhausted since they’ve been looking to tag someone from the first floor up to the third floor. Frisk was also tired of running around with her father leading the hunt. If this were to be some **free-roam crime spree based game** , then she would’ve already earned three stars. Any more than that would mean that all guards who are stationed outside the castle would be joining the wild goose chase. “First one to get back to the room wins!” she said out loud, expecting her friend to hear it. On the second floor, they’ve entered the right hall where a stair leads to the third floor. In their sprint, Asriel’s cloak gave in, and revealed that he’s in the lead. “See you later, Frisk!” he looks back while running.

                Before any of the two had ever step foot on the stair, something pulled them. For a few seconds, the last thing they remember was being in front of the staircase. The looked again, only to see that they’re at Frisk’s room. It felt like they just teleported. “Hey, Asriel. No fair! No magic teleportation.” Frisk looks away with arms crossed. “But Frisk, I don’t know how to teleport!” He extends both hands below, expressing that he didn’t do it. “Then who did—“ Frisk looks back at Asriel, only to feel shock. He doesn’t seem to get why Frisk’s irritated look shifts into pure terror. “Huh, what’s wrong?” Frisk points toward his back with shaking hands and a scared face. The sound of someone stomping their feet from the back could be heard. Asriel can be dense as long as he doesn’t know what’s going on, but by the time he realize the issue. “Oh good golly!” Right behind them was Rance standing tall, glaring at the two kids like an angry parent. To make things more terrifying, his arms are crossed and his foot is stomping on the floor repeatedly.

                MK opens the door just next to the closet cabinet with yawn. The tail goes back, while he yawns. “Hey, dudes. What did I miss?” he asks with a smile. The three looked at him with a grim expression, and with that his smile turned bitter and said, “I’ll be right back.” Before closing the door with his tail. Back to the topic, Rance’s phone vibrated on his pocket and picked it up. “Your Majesty? … I am currently in Frisk’s room… It seems that the castle has become lively after her return… Please do, and her friend seems to be part of their little game… I will…” the call ends, and he slid his phone back to his pocket. It didn’t take more than a minute before King Farlon opens the door and asked the warrior to go out for a moment. Rance nodded once and exited as the King instructs.

                The door was closed and the movers finally arrived with his stuff. Talk about slow, but he’s just too fast; maybe he should’ve picked up his stuff by himself instead of burdening them. Then again, they were paid to move stuffs. “My room is here.” He pointed towards the door next to Frisk’s room. The room in between hers and her father is already occupied, so he’s taking the one near the stair that leads to the second and fourth floor. As soon as the movers passed by, “ **YOU TWO CAUSED A COMMOTION BY PLAYING A GAME OF TAG?!** ” a loud scold could be heard from the other door. King Farlon just happen to explode like that when a mischievous act has been played, and this happen to be one of them.

                “Oh my, what am I going to do with both of you?” he asks while closing his eyes and massaging his forehead. The two looks down, reflecting with what they just did. Frisk muster up her determination to answer back, but her father’s glare shattered it in one go. “But what we did is for everyone in this castle!” Asriel respond, the King listens to them as he continued. “Frisk gave that suggestion, so that anyone who had the seed should be cured by our ability.” He gains bravery as he does his best to reason with the adult. “Our power has the ability to destroy the seeds, right? So, we just needed to confirm if anyone here had them.” He looks down towards his furry hand, it glows orange for a moment.

                King Farlon is trying to process the thought, all while the room is silent for a moment. The two kids stand before their parent or guardian, who is sitting and thinking of what to respond to Asriel’s logic. “…How many have you confirmed and cure?” he asks in a low tone of voice. Both of them said in unison, “13.” The king taps his handle, thinking of what to do. With their power, they could help cure everyone who had the seed, but the risk of exposing her to assassins, kidnappers, or even pedophiles is rather high. It looks like he has to play his only card in ensuring their safety, if ever they will do a stunt like that again. “Rance Vor!” he shouts, and with no delays he enter the room. “Yes, your highness?” he almost made an attempt to bow, but was stopped by Frisk’s previous commands. “See to it that you keep an eye on her and her friend. You are the only one here who could catch her in her act.” King Farlon gives a soft command, it seems that his fatigue is heavy enough to make him talk in a low tone of voice.

                The King stands up, only to limb and fall to his knees. It looks like he’s about to give in but Rance caught his shoulders and helped him stand up. The king separates as he tries to use his sheathed weapon as a cane to walk out of the room. The moment he closed the door, a sound of someone collapsing on the floor could be heard. Rance flinched, but hesitated in assisting Frisk’s father. He needs to follow orders, regardless of his condition. “Oh my god, your highness! Are you alright?” the movers seem to have assisted. “Hold on, your highness. We’ll help you…. Uhhh, damn it, George! The elevator isn’t working.” The three who are inside the bed room stared at the door for a while, while the two are arguing where to deliver the King. “King Farlon, may we ask where you need to go at this time? … Bruno, he’s pointing at the door there! Not to worry, your highness. We’ll help you…” The two seem to struggle as they assisted the limping man.

                The room goes quiet, and MK slowly opens the door, peeking in. The two are sitting on Frisk’ bed, looking down while Rance gives a sigh. “Well, your highness? Care to explain the juvenile behaviour?” Rance asks like a parent. They explained the situation, and Rance listened. A game of tag, that should confirm whether everyone had the seeds or not. It looks like majority of them had them, but they took care of it with their Determination. It doesn’t seem to be a problem if they didn’t run and cause trouble for the servants and guards. “To be honest, it would’ve been better if you guys didn’t aggravate your actions.” Frisk tries to be cheerful when she admitted, “I guess I did go a bit too far…” before turning her head to Asriel. “… Ditto.” From the awkward frown as they look at one another, to the two laughing at each other’s actions. Rance is not impressed that the two went that far. “So, you two caused a commotion… to slow each other down. Well, that reckless fun ends here.”

                “Princess Frisk, as loyal as I may be to you and to your father, I cannot tolerate this reckless action… If you two are to play, I will be there to supervise both your actions at all times. As promised.” He gives that parent tone towards the two. Before Frisk could even say ‘But’, he quickly interrupts them with a follow-up. “I will give you the freedom you need, but if it goes out of hand I will cease all operations and have you two stop what you are doing. We don’t want you to go on an adventure unsupervised.” He gives a little smile, and Asriel seem to get what he’s implying. “’You can do as you please, as long as I am there to protect both of you.’ Did I get that right, Mr…?” The warrior nods, but soon realized that he didn’t introduce himself awhile back.

                “My name is Rance Vor, Royal Guard of the North, and also Frisk’s bodyguard.” He extends his hand towards Asriel. The small monster jumps off from bed and shake hands with the human. “My name is Asriel Dreemurr, son of Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr.” Frisk noticed something that was brief and faint, but the warrior’s hand had a glimmer a light red glow. Asriel’s smile is rather adorable, that it somehow made the warrior shudder in thought. After they shook hands, he put his hand to his right waist and said, “Yeah, I hope my sister will not find you.” Thinking back, Dianne Vor is highly fond of big, cute and/or furry creatures. Giving him the idea might even trauma him. That thought made the goat child curious, same with MK in a different scenario. Without even looking at the door, Rance shouted “You can come out, armless one.” Now, there are three children who sit on Frisk’s bed, while Rance grabs the chair from the study table to sit on. “Now, I may have a record for being a protective person. Frisk knows that personally, and as much as I want to scold all of you for what happened, I need to understand your whole situation from the four of you.” He placed his right foot on his left thigh near the knee, before focusing his full attention.

They gave their brief summary of what’s going to happen if they don’t stop the flower monster. And hearing their story matches with her sister’s briefing while he was at the hospital. As they gave their side of the story, his eyes had a spark of both danger and determination. When he looked at Asriel, he saw a deep wound within his eyes; a troubled look wherein he’s not ready to face real danger yet. The wounds Rance saw must be from what he did, but couldn’t remember. He’s not ready to confront the mistakes he unconsciously did. The warrior turned his attention to Frisk, and saw indecisiveness in her eyes. He dealt with her delinquent actions to go out of the castle and play, but only to understand her intentions later on. For what he could recall, there were three things that Frisk needs to fulfill, which are completely heavy to bear for a 10-year-old child. Her duty as princess and future queen of the country, her loss of a family member especially that person who comforted her the most when she was suffering, and her responsibility to follow a fixed marriage with a neighboring prince in order to prevent a war from happening. Because of that, her freedom was almost taken away from her. If he’s in that situation, then he has no other choice but to do it. He doesn’t know who her future husband, yet, but it looks like she doesn’t like that person at all.

                Finally, he turns to MK. The thought of having no arms is a great weigh of burden but that’s not what Rance see in his eyes. Those eyes are the same as his when he wanted to go in an adventure with his sister; the thrill of going through places and meeting awesome people. Out of all three, he’s the most naïve one. Seeing their determination to move on gives him a reason to trust them, but then there’s that one last person he hadn’t fully observed yet. “Asriel, may I see that other person inside of you?” He nods silently, and before long his perception changed into something else. Rance could tell that this person is Chara. Her eyes in him glimmer a spark of both danger and determination, and in her eyes there is hatred, grief and regret. She must have lived a horrible life before meeting the monsters, and that darkness still looms in her SOUL. Even with those eyes, it looked like it’s under a healing process.

Rance stood up from his chair and gives a light smile, “You guys look like you’re hungry. I’ll get you some food to eat. What would you like?” All that vibe went away, as they provided their preferences. The warrior steps out of the room, and turned to them with a slight wave of his left hand. “I’ll be back with your preferences.” He closed the door, and Asriel looks at the door with a serious look on his face. The two who dwells in one body had the same thought; he must’ve killed a lot of people in his time to have eyes like that.

* * *

 

                Meanwhile, at the Monster’s castle, at the dining room. Asgore is having his last dinner serving from Grillby, as the fire monster gives him his plate of chili fries and golden flower tea. The King used a fork in picking his fries, while a spoon to scoop up some of the leftover chili. Despite the the king had eyes of both gloom and suffering, he still has table manners. Grillby sits on the chair in front of Asgore and gives him a silent concerned look. The flames crackle in thought, and Asgore replies to him. “I don’t hate her, but I my blood seems to boil when her presence is near.” Grillby looks at him while the flames give a pausing crackle sound. “Sans will be fine. He may look like a lazy monster, but he gets the job done. **One way or another**.” Asgore gives an off-glare at him, while the flaming bartender seem to have noticed something underneath the King’s plate. As soon as he finished eating, Grillby takes the plate and left him with his flaming head crackling a little. Asgore had wiped his mouth off with his napkin and took the folded paper. “Thank you for your support Grillby, I will be fine on my own for now.”

                Grillby wanted to ask something out of curiosity, as his flames give a questionable pattern. “He is currently working with me right now, and in return I will pay his tab for his services. If you excuse me.” He left the room in a hurry, and for a while the flaming bartender noticed something was odd. Sans, his regular customer has never shown any effort in working. And a while back, he was currently sick. So why is Asgore relying on a lazy bag of bones like Sans? While he finished cleaning the utensils with extremely hot steam of water, he wipes it clean with a sheet of cloth. Grillby is weak against water, but heated vapor seems to be ineffective for him. He puts away the cleaned dishes and decided to peek at what the King is doing.

                King Asgore has exited his bedroom and went to the other end of the hall, where there are stairs that lead to the upper and lower level of the castle. It seems that he went to the upper floor, and with that Grillby has a chance of sneaking inside the King’s room. Upon inspection, it seems that he has a bed fit for two monsters, a closet with a santa claus outfit, three trophies at the side with a tall mirror behind them, a bookshelf with an unusual arrangement, and a desk table with a lamp, a mug with several pens, and a book at the side. He looks at the table, and inspected that the note was lying flat, with an encrypted message.

wcmmf zde r bvvh ec vb'gmfue' eqrw ydwe rb gpwv. eqv lrh rw wpie, zde

eqv qdopbw rb eqrw vmp pmv ocmv hpbavmcdw. nv bvvh ec npmo du ec eqvo

r cbsf qpjv cbv npmbrba: zvnpmv ci eqv vjrs iscnvm. -wvbemf 0 wpbw

                After reading the note, he looks around to see if there is a clue in reading the message. Then, he notices the bookshelf with an unusual pattern. “P Z G H V I A Q R Y L S O B C U X M W E D J N T F K” He knows that the King and Queen hates unorganized bookshelves, but the King left it the way it is. The way the books are arranged must be some form of code in decrypting the note’s message. Grillby has a sharp memory; he can remember most of the things he read without even writing it. Even Sans’ tab

He exits the residence and decides to go home. His daughter must be home alone after his impromptu assignment. Walking in a lonely side walk a thought had passed. Why did the King hired him instead of the other cook in the underground? There is Tem, but I don’t think the King should pay 1 gold per flake. Then, there’s Burgerpants but it seems that he’s currently employed at the resort. If Mettaton should allow him to work as the King’s personal chef then there would be cameras all over the place. Personal chef and Mettaton advertisements isn’t what the King would want, especially in his current condition. Toriel is also available, but after what happened a few days back. Grillby rubs his head, thinking that maybe he was the best choice after all.

He looks forward to see three roads ahead. He turned to his right, which leads to Ember street. His house is around the corner, and just when the bartender had stepped in front of his house, he realized something. The note that the King has is encrypted, and back then his great grandparents used to have encoded messages when a war is involved. Only those who understood the note went to join the war, and never came back. Does that mean, that there will be another one happening soon? What about letting the monsters stay in the surface, was it a façade for humans to exterminate them in the near future? What’s going to happen then if they’ll be having another war, will they get imprisoned back in the underground, or will they be…? That might be the case, but he couldn’t give a proper thought. Right now the flames flicker dark in concern, and to confirm things he need to decrypt that note. He looks up to the dark skies, with a number of stars twinkling before him. The night is so beautiful, that it was his first time seeing real stars. Grillby savored the moment of seeing it, before clenching his fists, with a confused thought. ‘… … … … Please, spare us ….’

-To be continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made my own encrypted message, since someone in the Undertale universe likes to make things more difficult for everyone else. I wonder who could that be? And since there's that message, it should serve as a homework for the readers. Figure it out, and you'll know if there will be a war or not.


	5. [Asriel and Rance] Short Misadventures: Dreas Liem (part one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here giving another extra filler. I had a different intention here, but it feels like I need to start a flag for Asriel so that he won't need it in the future. You'll understand what I mean.

It was night, and the open is quiet for anyone to rest at ease as if the whole country is sleeping. There back at the depths of Mt. Ebott, a menacing creature talks to itself in tones. _“It seems that these idiots are having their POW WOW. I can’t believe that I’m feeling left out. Oh well, too bad for them. **They won’t live to see a better day**_.” In the RUINS, the patch of golden flowers had darkened to a crimson, while a shadowy figure had clapped its skeletal hands together. The clap had echoed through the empty mountain, and with it six runes had appeared just above the hole. Seven spheres are occupied with a variety of colors, but one is at black. The whole country had quaked, waking up a few of the monsters in their new home in the surface. Although, their awakening appeared as if their eyes were dyed in evil.

* * *

 

“ _A dream, a nightmare, or a recollection. Asriel, Flowey is making another move. This time, it’s Frisk—no there’s more. What is this strange feeling? Mama, Papa? No, this can’t be._ ”

                Back before Asriel had regained his true form and no one had intervene in Frisk’s fight with Asgore, she was going to spare and stay with the monster king in the underground. But then, the flower monster had attacked him from behind, and killed him at ease. It was a cheap shot, but the demise of Asgore Dreemurr was inevitable. The six souls were gathered into the flower as it taunted the human, before transforming into an abomination. The rest of the events became blank, and in time only Frisk was left in a bleak darkness. There is nothing around her but an open field, with no corners whatsoever. It didn’t matter where she would go. It didn’t take long before a path appeared before her, and it only lead her to a trap: A Fight for her Life against a Titanic monster, made of machine and plant. Omega Flowey strikes with a shrieking laugh, before making its assault. There at the side, a number of spectators are there to witness the nightmare unfolding before them. Surprising that a child is doing its best to survive against it, with size and power it could immediately tear her to pieces. Through Determination, she struggled to cry for help, **but nobody came**.

                She kept struggling, and trying to cry for help. The spectators are getting anxious to help her out, but it seems that what they’re seeing is just another nightmare. It felt too real to be told a dream, and with an act one of the persons watching had come out. It was Rance Vor in his full suit of armor attachments, “Your Highness!” he cries out while speeding his way towards danger. Countless vines strike at a certain point, and the child barely dodged the attack. The last vine was going for the kill, but a spin block from his spear dices the attack. “R-Rance? What are you doing here! This place is dangerous—“ Frisk retorts while holding a kitchen knife. He turns his attention towards her and abducts her, before the flurry of spiked projectiles hit them. His ability to move as if he’s teleporting is incredible, and the heavy steps he’s making at the black ground creates a slight confusing sound. There’s nowhere to run, and before them initiates the second wave of attack.

                This time, bombs were falling down like rain and the explosion creates an impact. His ability to dodge is rendered useless against an attack he can’t predict. And with that, Frisk calls for help once again. Beams were fired from the other side, preventing any more bombs from dropping. To the two human’s attention, it was Sans standing on one big Gaster Blaster, while two smaller ones are on each side. “you need help, kid?” both his eyes had glow blue while looking straight at Omega Flowey. From behind, a number of energy spears had cut off the metal spines sticking out of its back. Undyne joins the fray, and things heated up for everyone. A new power had awakened, and before realizing what it was a wave of black energy thrashed everyone nearby. Rance is down for the count, while Undyne and Frisk could still stand. “HEY, STAND UP!! YOU PROVED YOUR STRENGTH TO ME, NOW’S NOT THE TIME FOR A BEAUTY SLEEP!!!” Undyne went to join the group. “He’s out cold, after taking too many impact!” Frisk retorts in concern, after taking so many hits he should’ve been dead by now. Another wave is unleashed, only for it to be blocked by large pillars of bones.

                “SANS, EXPLAIN TO ME WHY YOU DIDN’T INVITE ME TO A PARTY!” Papyrus makes an appearance, holding what seems to be a spear-length bone. “uhhh, i forgot?” Sans hover towards him while rubbing his skull and grinning with a relaxed look on his face. “OH MY GOD, SANS!!!” he stomps the ground several times, irritated that his brother didn’t tell him about this event. Papyrus swings his weapon, and made a number of Pillar sized bones grow from the ground creating a blockade. It didn’t take long for Rance to regain consciousness, but Omega Flowey isn’t done yet. The spines behind it are metallic, and with several whiplash it cuts through Papyrus’ blockade with ease. It looks like the nightmare is becoming worse and worse, and all Frisk could do is cry for help. It worked on the four, and someone else might come and aid them. The metallic spines are lunging towards them at full speed, but before it could even reach them by a meter length, something else had cut them down. The King of humans had appeared before them, and with his single swing, three visible slashes counters the attack. The titanic monster is losing its patience, and calls for help. “So, this is that monster that attacked my daughter and killed King Asgore... I won’t forgive such treachery!” Frisk’s father makes a declaration and rushed through the number of attacks.

                Bomb explosions aren’t even fazing him, vines and metallic spines are being cut through with no slack, and Papyrus’ pillars are blocking the wave of energy. It looks like he’s going to make it, until a number of Floweys appeared to the side and fired their friendliness pellets like turrets. Before the first ten bullets around him could wound him, a force field was casted in order to protect the King. A goat monster in robe had walked to Frisk’s side, while putting her hand on the child’s head. “What a despicable monster, making such an attack against a defenseless human.” She smiles for a moment, before getting serious. “I will not tolerate any more inexusable actions!” Toriel removes her hand from Frisk’s head, and raises both of them to cast her magic. After waving her hands, King Farlon’s rapier was ignited with flames; an enchant magic was casted.

                Undyne supports the human king with spears deflecting other seeds from hitting the barrier, while Sans fire his Gaster Blasters preventing bombs from dropping into the ground, and Papyrus raising bone pillars to block the wave of energy. Rance guards Frisk against any attack, until Flowey calls for help. The dark field, empty of life had become occupied by a large number of eyes. One after another, different eye colors dyed in evil had intimidated the opposing party. King Farlon’s attack falters, while Omega Flowey gains a chance to whip its overgrown arm on the King. The swing was hard enough to send him flying back to the other side of the battlefield; he could’ve cut through it but because of the glares around them made him hesitate. “Your Majesty!” Rance catches the king, who seem to feel like his whole skeletal frame shattered. Toriel rushes in to perform an emergency heal, but out of nowhere a chained dagger lunges in for the kill. Sans uses one of his blasters to block the attack that was meant for Toriel, but then another one from the other side lunges in to take Frisk’s life. In her hesitation to move, she was about to be killed and covered her eyes, but nothing happened to her.

                Everyone else was shocked of what just happened. She heard it stabbed deep, and blood gushes out from someone’s mouth. The child felt like something drips from above, and in opening her eyes it widened along with her mouth gaping open. The blade of the dagger penetrated Rance’s back to his chest and almost stabbed Frisk with it. His bladed spear was broken in two with his rear block, and the other half was sent flying on the far back. Toriel and Undyne were shocked, Papyrus looked like he was too nervous to talk, and Sans closed his eye sockets. The chained dagger was pulled out, and more blood showered. With his strength draining, he steps back before letting any more from tainting the child’s tears. Falling into his knees, he tries to look at Frisk’s shoulder. “Are you...safe...Frisk?” he could barely talk while life seems to fading. His eyes were starting to fade into a dark slumber. Death has already robbed him of the sense of sight, while Frisk begs him to stay alive. “Rance, stay with us. Please, don’t go... no, no, no, no!”

“ _Hihihi, even if someone DOES come to the rescue. **IT WOULD ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE.** ”_

                “I’m glad that... I was able to........ protect you.... one last.....” before finishing his sentence, he falls to the ground. The black ground was dyed in red, and everything else had faded into the darkness. A wave of energy passed through the monsters, and immediately turned them to dust. Frisk was the only one left alive, with the dead body of her body guard and her father. She starts crying, tears of sorrow and despair had echoed with each drop. A faint voice could be heard from afar. ‘Frisk....bad dream... determined....’ the voice keeps echoing, ‘....it’s only.... stay determined...wake up....’ It didn’t take long before the sentences finally made sense, and the voice was none other than Asriel himself. ‘Frisk, wake up. It’s only a bad dream, stay determined!’

* * *

 

                “Wake up, Frisk!” Asriel shouts outloud, and she awoken with her face soaked in tears. Hugging her teddy bear tightly, without letting anyone pry it from her hands. She looks around to see both Asriel and MK worried sick. “At the same time, Rance Vor in his brown sleeping pajamas came in without permission. It seems that he’s also worried sick of the princess’ condition, but how did he find out?” The warrior rushed in with great concern, and it bothered her more. Remembering the inappropriate scene that had uncover before her made Frisk jump out of bed and tackle hugs him. The warrior wasn’t ready for that, and fell on the floor with her landing on his chest. She cries out loud, which caught the cleaning butlers and maids’ attention. “My lady, are you all right?” The way she was crying at the warrior doesn’t necessarily look like it’s his fault, but her prized teddy bear is on the floor. “Royal Guard North, how dare you make the princess cry!” a barrage of scold unfolds against him. Including unnecessary names which seems to shame him further. Rance had the same dream as Frisk, where he protected her from a sneak attack. Ignoring their calls, he pats her head lightly and cheers her up. “Do not fret, young Frisk. I won’t let anything happen to you. So please, stop crying.” He gives a small smile, which worsened Frisk’s mood.

                Frisk starts to hit her hands unto Rance face while crying louder, “you idiot! I don’t want to see your face!” the mood went grim and right behind the distracted cleaners, was King Farlon glaring at everyone. “Get back to your cleaning duties!” with a thunderous echo. They all went back to their duties, and with Frisk still crying on top of Rance. The King steps in and commanded him with a low tone of voice, “ **you heard the lady. come back after you take a day off**.” Frisk’s father helps her up, and then she hugs him tightly. The dream of losing someone precious must’ve cut her deep for her to cry like that. Rance had no choice but to go back to his room and change attire, while the King comforts his crying daughter. When Frisk looks up, King Farlon tries to cheer her up but the results were the same.

* * *

 

                Rance just finished changing clothes, with a white tank top, brown leggings and rubber shoes. He also has a dog tag necklace that has the letter ‘N’, and equips a light weight blade spear on his back. Exiting the room, the halls went quiet but the rusting inside his stuff ruined things. He went back inside his room to see Asriel digging through Rance’s stuff, all while the rest of the clothes he neatly sorted became messy. He seems to be looking for something, and before he could dig in deeper and make any more mess, the warrior picks him up by the shirt collar and tosses him to his bed. He gives a stern look at the young monster and asks him lightly, “kid, what are you doing in my room?” his arms are crossed while patiently taps his foot on the floor. One thing a warrior value most is their privacy. In response, Asriel replied to him: “can I borrow one of your armor? I want to disguise myself and go out in the human city.”

                He shyly scratches his head in embarrassment, and with the current state Frisk needs to be alone. Rance did recall that there were others who were in that dream and since he could recall it clearly, it might be the same with everyone else. Which means that, he just witnessed the other monsters’ fighting capabilities? Sans and Undyne’s abilities were already revealed, but Papyrus and Toriel’s support magic seems to be new. King Farlon’s attacks were more agile there than before, and as for Frisk, her movements to dodge and flee are good. Maybe she learned how to dodge better with her stay in the underground, but that isn’t the only case. Asriel is another special guest that needs to be entertained, and with Frisk needing time alone, he can’t simply stay in one room pre-occupied with nothing. Speaking of which, what happened to MK? “If you’re wondering about my friend, he’s sleeping.” Asriel answers, while slightly covering his hand chuckling. In Frisk’s bed room, MK sleeps on her bed acting as another doll for Frisk to cry on.

                Rance rubs the back of his neck, thinking of a way to pass time without feeling useless. Then, in a split second he thought of something that might serve as a win-win for both him and Asriel. Next to his closet is a large trunk containing scraps of metal; his usual armor design are just attachments and could serve as a ‘build if yourself’ armor set. Without hesitation, he puts the goat monster on his table like a large plushy. “Hold still.” The look in his face was rather scary, and it looks like he’s going to dress him up.

* * *

 

                Meanwhile at the monster capital, Papyrus wakes up with a brimming smile on his face. “NYEEEEEEH~!” he stretches his arms up in the air while pinching his eye sockets close. After a while, he opens the window revealing the sun shining as bright as ever. It didn’t take long before he starts to do his morning routine: five minutes of stretching, taking a bath and wearing his favorite costume in it, and lastly fixing his bed. Everything went well, until someone else seems to be sleeping on his bed without noticing. “SANS! GET OFF THE BED!!” Papyrus screamed in irritation, but Sans ignored it by turning to the other side of the bed, scratching his bottom part of his pants as if he has a legitimate butt and unleashed a fart sound. “UGH!” in irritation, he left the room with a door slam. Undyne in armor happens to visit them after her morning patrol and went straight to Papyrus’ house. “Hey, what got you riled up so early?” she points her spoon at the grumpy skeleton. Undyne happens to be eating a bowl of cereal while Toriel is cooking up eggs and bacon for Papyrus. He stomps the floor repeatedly and shouted, “I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT SANS IS BEING LAZY AGAIN!” Toriel transfers the cooked food into the plate and placed it on the table, while Undyne grumbles something while chewing. The tall skeleton happens to notice it and asked what she was saying. After she swallowed what she was chewing, she answered, “At least, he’s back to being lazy than what happened before.” She looks at him with less worry.

                “BY THE WAY, UNDYNE. WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE?” Papyrus asks cheerfully, and then she puts her spoon at the side of her bowl. She turns her head to Toriel and stood up with a concerned look on her face. “I came here to apologize to Toriel, with what happened back then.” Toriel who happens to grab another batch of eggs dropped them in surprise. Undyne was known to be brute, but she also has a sincere side. “I’m sorry for what I did, back then.” She looks at the goat monster in the eyes, and despite that she shows bitter expression, her eyes give a sincere answer. Toriel just smiles back and accepts her apology. Papyrus was rather confused; why did Undyne just apologized before Papyrus went down to eat, and to make matters more puzzling, if they both still have the grudge with one another then why is she eating breakfast here, knowing that Toriel also lives here? Then again, Papyrus recalled that Undyne is the Head of the Royal Guard. She’s tough as nails to barge in and apologize without breaking anything.

                “Well, also about Asgore.” Undyne hesitates to talk, but her expression means something important. “He’s been acting very serious, lately. I know him as far as I can remember, and well. I’ve never seen him this serious for a number of days in a row.” She explains it while looking down. Toriel then puts her finger on her chin and looks up, wondering about it. “That is odd. He has never been too serious for more than an hour.” The two space out while the frying pan starts to create black smoke. The two looked at it and forgot that Toriel was supposed to get the bacons off. It took a while to get the smoke out of the house, and then she just cleaned things up. Papyrus helped in cleaning the floor after the egg mess, and Undyne opened up the other windows to let the breeze of air flow in. “After Toriel washed the dishes, she turns to the two with a kind smile and said, “You two have fun. I’ll be busy cleaning the house for you and your brother, Papyrus.” Papyrus and Undyne opened the front door and gave a wave before leaving, and soon after her hands trembled. “… What was that dream?” she looks down. The sight of Asgore being killed by a flower, and then the humans were no match against a titanic monster. She remembers it very well. Before she starts cleaning, she picks up her phone and dials Frisk’s number. There was no response…

* * *

 

                Back in Rance’s room, he was just about done giving Asriel a new look. He felt awkward for dressing up a monster, but what makes it stand out is that he gave Asriel some armor set. Standard Iron plating, with no spikes whatsoever, Rance’s taste in armor seems to go well with Asriel’s simplicity. The ears and nozzle were the major problems, so he customized one helmet to make it look slightly bulky at the back while the front part would have a brace decal to minimize the front length, and at the same time it hides the long ears like hair braids being tied to the back of the head. In this case, he would be close to a gray Samurai-themed set. Asriel is not used to wearing any shoes, and having tight gloves feel strange for him as well. Rance took the consideration of giving him comfortable gloves and shoes that would feel like he’s not wearing them at all. It’s strange for the warrior to have enough equipment to make customization for almost all sizes, but the trunk he has is rather limited. Lastly, he gave him a pair of hardwood short swords; Rance can tell what fighting preference a person has just by knowing how they move their body. It’s a fact that Asriel did held two saber swords when he was having a final battle with Frisk.

Now, Asriel looks like a human warrior mascot, with the overall hiding his true identity. And to make it slip through his sister’s love for cuteness, the armor makes him look like a plain soldier trainee. Asriel jumps down from the table and got a look at his disguise with a mirror, and nodded in impression. The thing about his set is that it looks heavy, but to him it feels light and comfortable like he just wore a hard hoodie and a jacket. “All right! This should work.” He gets pumped up with the disguise he has, and was ready to get out of the castle. But of course, the warrior weights his hand over the trainee’s head stopping him on his tracks. “Not so fast, I haven’t explained you the terms in getting out without being suspected. King Farlon may be a nice person, but when he gets strict, even with a letter of introduction or a law-abide VIP status won’t be enough to be treated with suspicion. That’s why…”

                At the corner of the room, Asriel sits down, quivering in fear as he imagines how terrifying the King can be. A lot of fictional images appear in his head, thanks to Chara’s suggestive projections. A colony of ants running away from the castle because of King Farlon’s glare, the president of another country being beheaded for bringing a suspicious package, or even worse. Nice cream man being booted to another country for not bringing his rental place permit. “Chara, don’t make such an assumption.” He looks back and saw him making a confused look. “I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but he’s only strict when it’s needed. He’s not some tyrant you can simply imagine.” He closed the door and walked close to Asriel, lending him a hand. “While you’re in that armor, want me to give you a second name?”

                Asriel accepts the offer and grabs his hand, helping him stand up. He nods in agreement, and with that the warrior was able to thought of a name. “Let’s call you Dreas Liem. It’s a mash-up of your name, and not everyone can decipher it until they see the person behind the mask.” Adriel not only wears a helmet, but also a cloth mask to make sure that the fur doesn’t stick out of it. It can also serve as second layer disguise. Rance is able to cover most of the holes and with proper alibi, no one will be able to recognize Asriel in a pinch. Not unless they are mind readers. “Oh right, I forgot that you’re still in the castle. I need to talk to the King about this so that you can have a free pass.” Rance suggest. It would be strange that another person is in the castle without the guards’ consent, and grave suspicion will cause an uproar. “How about we keep it a secret for now. You can do that when we’re returning to the castle.” Asriel gives his comment. He performs the cloaking procedure and became invisible with no flaws. “Let’s go.” The warrior suggests.

* * *

 

                After exiting the castle grounds and away from prying eyes, they went to an alley. Chara is giving a suspicious assumption that the warrior might mug Dreas, but he trusts him enough to ensure his life. Dreas undoes his cloak magic, and with no hesitation Rance carries him to his back and used his amazing footwork to jump up high; Chara checks Rance Vor’s active ability.

[Rance Vor     HP: 100%  FP: 98%  Active Ability: Shukuchi – an ability that uses incredible footwork to move from one place to another. (Requires extensive training)]

                Dreas then realizes that it was the same move that he used back when he and Frisk were racing back to the room. It’s an amazing ability that requires a lot of effort, endurance and focus, but judging from the warrior’s movement he is not exerting too much. Maybe he becomes faster than lightning when he does exert more effort into it. Normally, he wouldn’t see where they are going since the last experience was like a blink of an eye, but because he’s giving Dreas a piggyback ride he can see what the warrior sees. Speaking of the current situation, they just reached the far west exit of the human capital. And in estimation, it was only three minutes. A remarkable feat Chara commends from the trainee’s mind. Although the question would be, where are they going and what will be their agenda?

                Rance starts to walk slowly and brings Dreas down to the ground. He approaches the toll guard with a friendly vibe. The trainee went closer so that he would know what he has in store. “That is harsh, North.” The guard gives a remark, while Rance sighs with a smile. “I will be conducting a test tomorrow for the next heir of the Royal Guard of the North, and today I was given an impromptu off-duty to give the princess some space.” He explains, while the guard continues, “Even though you’re the newly assigned bodyguard.” The two seems to be in good terms, then with a quick change of topic he asks Rance. “Hey, who’s the kid behind you?” curiosity strikes and Dreas nervously reacts. Rance turns around and gave his introduction.

“Oh, this is Dreas Liem. A kid warrior who wants me to train him.” He gives a confident greeting, and to support him, the trainee responds almost shyly. “I-I want to become strong, just like Rance.” At first, the guard seems to be puzzled then it passes off with laughter. “Ha ha ha! I can’t believe it, Rance. A kid actually admires your work!” Dreas tilts his head slightly diagonal in question. “Kid, I don’t know what he did but I’ll tell you this: North here is the second cold-blooded Royal Guard among the ranks. What made him become your idol?” the monster inside the armor trembles, hearing that Rance is actually like that. In an Impromptu, Chara takes over and gives her speech for him. “ _He’s fast and strong. Not only that, he can be cruel and kind._ ” Rance felt like two people just rubbed salt to his wounds as the guard starts to laugh. He gives both of them a deathly stare, “I may be a cold-blooded person, but that doesn’t mean that I need to be a cruel person all the time. If I do that, then I wouldn’t have convinced the princess to return home. **Would you want the latter to happen?** ” That last part gave a terrifying tone coming from the warrior, and the toll guard seems to look away, maybe thinking of the worst outcome. What would have happened if Frisk didn’t return to her home?

“ _That aside, the reason why I look up to Sir Rance is that…_ He showed me how to be determined, even at my darkest hour. I want to be brave, like him.” Asriel takes control of his body, once again. Within the helmet’s eye sockets, his eyes glimmer with determination. What he said confused the guard, and then Rance whispered something to his ear. Asriel and Chara are wondering what he said, and then the guard’s look went grim and then he covered his mouth before looking back to the trainee. In comfort, he approaches him and puts his hand to the young warrior’s shoulder with a concerned look. Did Rance just told him the truth? “Young lad, I am sorry for your loss… But you are too—nevermind.” He turns around and gives the warrior his regard. “North, take care of the lad. And don’t be too harsh. What a terrible fate.”

Rance makes a neutral expression and comments that he won’t. The toll guard gives him a pass, along with the trainee. Rance and Dreas walk to the exits of the city with the guard looking at their backs; he’s concerned of what will happen to the kid. Later after they are too far from the security camera’s range of sight and audio records, Dreas asked him what Rance whispered. “I told him that you lost your parents and sister in a bandit raid at some village, and you want me to train you to be a better fighter than stay in an orphanage feeling gloomy. Also, you know where the bandit hideout is and you plan to avenge your parents with my help later on.” From the inside of his helmet, his eyes twitched in disbelief. Rance’s way of reasoning with things are rather extreme, even enough to make Chara shiver.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Papyrus and Undyne went outside the city and into the woods. Undyne forged her water spear and holding it while the upper shaft is on her right shoulder. Papyrus walks along with a happy march. They continue to go deeper in the woods, without any form of conversation. When Papyrus starts asking question whether they’re there yet or not, Undyne clenches her spear tightly. It’s no surprise that she has a limit in tolerating him. “Papyrus, if you want to become a Royal Guard you must know that. you. need. to. be. Patient.” She could barely hold back, but Papyrus understood with a smile and said “OKAY!” the birds that were nesting around the area suddenly flew away, thanks to Papyrus’ voice.

After an hour of hike, they reached what appears to be a camp site. There are also some training dummies planted on the ground, punching bags hanging on strong branches, and a large circle which serves as a sparring ring. There’s also the usual camp fire and some logs for them to sit on. “We’re here.” Undyne gives a menacing smile. A few hours later, Rance reached the camp as well, along with Dreas. This time, they walked from the exit of the city to a certain village. Later on, Rance offered the same fast travel, but the trainee insisted that he should hike every once in a while. They have met up with a hyperactive greeting. Undyne lunges herself with her spear, while Rance goes to the side and moves his right foot towards her lower knee.

She dodged it by raising her legs slightly high while her hands reach for the ground, anticipating that move and countering it with a front flip helicopter kick. Her first kick lands on his shoulder, pushing the warrior a bit. But the second kick was timely countered with an uppercut, which ruined her momentum and made her fall on the ground. Rance didn’t hesitate to counterattack by jumping up high and performing a drop kick, but Undyne immediately moves away. The impact was similar to a plane dropping a mini bomb, which creates a small crater. And before she knew it, he disappeared from his landing and a spear was already pointed on her neck from the side. In retaliation, she swings her spear to get rid of the attack, and before the battle heats up for both of them and the spectators, someone threw a pair of corn at the tip of their spears. It took an exact precision to have them deeply planted into the tip, and it looks like they can’t fight with someone interrupting them like that.

                “Settle down, you whipper snappers! Sparring with one another can wait!” A familiar monster makes his appearance, and without delay the two stopped fighting while the other two turn their attention to the old monster. The elderly looking tortoise-monster in an archeologist attire with a magnifying glass cane, one of the remaining monsters who outlived the war between humans and monsters, and the former Elite Royal Guard who once served the Dreemurr family with an ironclad name, “Hammer of Justice”. Gerson makes an appearance with an old cheery look in his face. Undyne could barely hold her squeals since the tortoise monster is her idol hero. Asriel and Chara look rather shock that this guy looks like he could still move, and with Gerson’s single eye glare, it made the trainee shiver. Rance doesn’t necessarily know the monster, but he stops for everyone’s sake. And as for Papyrus, he stays quiet for unknown reasons. Looks like Dreas is in a pinch, because in his recollection. Gerson is still going strong, regardless of the age. The warrior and trainee can sense that he’s not someone who they can simply underestimate.

                “Aye, now! Before we get down to business, why don’t you get some grub and eat up?” He points at the prepared cooked corn just by the campfire, but before the two fighters could advance he suddenly turns to them and said “Not you two! Y’ already have your own grub!” he swings and points at their spearheads which has corn on it. Papyrus and Dreas went ahead, but what they don’t know is that the elder monster has something prepared for them. The trainee looks the other way before uncovering his face. They went and eat, but as soon as everyone finished eating, something was tingling in their mouths. With a single mischievous grin, the turtle jested “Should’ve checked if they’d be poison’d!” Dreas and Undyne immediately reacted as they start spitting out the food, while Papyrus and Rance seems to not care at all. “Adding a sugar pellet in a corn doesn’t contribute as poison.” Rance suggests while grabbing a cup of tea in a tray next to the log, while Papyrus said carefully “I REMEMBER THIS PRANK WHEN WE—“ without any warning, Gerson went up and bops the skeleton’s head with his cane. “Don’t talk, you migraine voice-inducing skeleton!” Rance can understand that Papyrus voice is rather, irritating, but maybe it has a different effect for Gerson.

                After a number of tricky situations put out by the elder monster, the afternoon is about to end, and the sun is about to set soon. “You there, human! I heard you’re the fastest!” it looks like Gerson wants to test Rance’s speed. He already understood what he needs to do, and without hesitation he blurred away. He disappeared with faint trace, but Gerson’s eye is moving around. He’s tracing the warrior’s movement, and without any warning he threw his cane like a dagger, and stabs a nearby tree. The leaves suddenly shook up, and the game of catch still continues. Dreas couldn’t believe what he’s seeing; that Gerson can actually tell where Rance is going with that speed. Undyne could barely catch up, and Papyrus was already confused when the warrior disappeared. The tortoise monster turns around and points at the punching bag. In a split second where Rance happens to pass by there, “There you are!” Gerson caught him by a glimpse. As soon as he said it, the warrior stops his movement where he is being pointed at. “To think that someone could trace my movements.” The warrior gives a commend, and Undyne gives a grin saying “That’s the Hammer of Justice for you! Even he can see through your moves!” her arms cross while Papyrus wants to say something, but didn’t.

Dreas could barely process the fact that Gerson, who is nearly a millennia old could still regain his senses. Kudos to monsters and their capabilities; Asriel completely forgot that he’s also a monster with advanced magic capabilities. Did he just think that he’s partly human, or maybe that’s Chara’s thinking? Rance dashed again, and this time he took the cane that was stabbed on the tree. He then stops just a few feet away from the elder monster before walking normally. In return, Gerson smiles back in gratitude, “For an assassin, you sure give elders proper respect like most knights do.” Rance simply rubs the back of his neck while giving an awkward smile. “I… get that sometimes. But to clarify things, I was a Northern Royal Guard.”  Gerson rubs his pointy beard down while nodding a number of times. “I’ve heard a great deal about you from Undyne herself. She keeps talking about you whenever she gets the chance to talk to me.”

                “And the reason why I was invited to your Sunday training, is that Undyne wants me to show you what I can really do?” he doubtfully looks at her. Undyne on the other hand smiles back with a vendetta, “THAT, AND YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO TRAIN ME HOW YOU DO YOUR UNIQUE SWING. REMEMBER?!” He did recall making that promise, but it feels like his companion and ‘trainee’ is feeling left out, but it looks like he doesn’t pay much attention. “Well, before that. If the King didn’t give me an impromptu leave, then I wouldn’t have been able to join you guys at all.” He points up, while the conversation seems to drift the topic. Dreas is carefully listening, sitting on a log while embracing the serenity of the forest. Nature has its way of letting monsters regain their strength back just by resting there for a bit. Being in a city may have its convenience but resting outdoors gives a better vibe for him. Papyrus sat next to the trainee and starts poking him.

                “Uhh, hey. What’s up?” Dreas turns his attention to him and asks him while slightly tilting his head to the side. Papyrus points at his head and shakes his head, it might mean that he’s asking why he wouldn’t show his face to everyone. He shook his head in response to Papyrus, and then out of nowhere Gerson happily joins in between the two, while Rance and Undyne are making a ruckus on the other side. “My, such a young lad joining the ranks of the adult. Say, why not show us who you really are? ….. Oh, I forgot my manners. What’s your name, young one?” the elder monster sounds rather curious while he looks at Dreas carefully. “My name is Dreas Liem, and I…I can’t…” he looks away and Papyrus rubs his skull in question.

Gerson turns around towards the unlit campfire, and took two stones from his pockets. With his cane leaning on his shoulders, he collides two rocks at each other and creates a spark. Soon after, the campfire is lit and the night had arrived. As soon as the flames grew bigger, Chara’s senses were going off. The elder monster returns them to his pocket and picks up his cane before standing up. He turns around towards Dreas, and gives a frail and strange tone, yet significant words that struck him hard, enough for his eyes to shaken and his mouth to gape open in his helmet.

“It’s been a while, young Dreas Liem… or should I say, Asriel Dreemurr”

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise that Gerson is here, and still kicking hard like it was yesterday? Should you get the memo that someone like him can be rather mischievous, but as the elder monster, he can work in mysterious ways. The flag I planted is Asriel's second (or third) identity, Dreas Liem is a good impromptu name, right? Asriel Dre ~~e~~ m ~~urr~~ hehehe. And for those who are wondering why Frisk is sensitive in this chapter, well you'll find out on the next part, or maybe there is a sense that she still has her vulnerabilities? Stay tune for more updates!


	6. [Asriel and Rance] Short Misadventures: Dreas Liem (part two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun with another update of the short misadventures: Dreas Liem. Hope you enjoy and **spot the easter eggs** I happen to lay on the content.

                The sun finally goes down, and the campfire illuminates a flickering light around them. Gerson, the Hammer of Justice confronts Asriel Dreemurr, who disguised himself with armor attachments and a new name Dreas Liem. Rance Vor invited him to go out, but with an impromptu invitation he was tagged along in a training with Undyne and Papyrus. The lines that came out of the elder monster’s mouth had a feeling of both curiosity and disturbance. “You can’t fool me, young Asriel. He he!” Dreas sits quietly, thinking of a way to answer back to him. Papyrus, who was at the trainee’s side is having question marks all over. In his mind, he asks himself who Asriel Dreemurr is. Until he read the name again, and the word ‘Dreemurr’ came into light.

                Undyne and Rance were having a conversation, but he kept his guard up for what Gerson might do to Asriel. He never should’ve let him tag along, but the goat child insisted, and he went along and equipped him his old set of armor. Did Undyne knew that he was still existing, or is Gerson one of that flower’s controlled pawns? The thought slowly sunk deeper, and until then someone knuckles him in the face. It was a fistful of pain, but to him it was only half to make him walk back and regain his bearings. “Rance, you punk! Did you just sleep through the conversation?!” Undyne clenches her fist tightly in front of him before unloading another one. With metal gauntlets like that, he would’ve been knocked out for good, but he wasn’t. He just woke up from the thoughts he nearly drowned on. The second punch was caught with no troubles, and Rance looked at her in the eyes with a grin. “Thanks for waking me up, there!” Undyne couldn’t pull her hand back, and it seems that his grip on her gauntlet is getting tighter.

                It was starting to bend, and before she expects a tighter grip she lets go. Her metal gloves had visible dents, but not to a point where it could harm her when removing it. “Tsch, you wanna fight?!” she shouts out loud, and with arrogance in mind he nods. Papyrus was also paying attention to their actions and before anything happens, a wall of blue bones was made in between the two fighters. He could barely contain what he wants to say, even with Gerson’s authority to stop him. “OH MY GOD, WILL YOU GUYS COME OVER HERE AND LISTEN?!” he flips out with what appears to look like eye balls coming out of his sockets. The heat between the two seem to have calmed, and with Gerson focusing his attention to Dreas, he spoke out loud. “A very nice attempt for distraction, young Rance. But I am too familiar with humanity’s rogue tactics.” He said with confidence and joy. “Now, come along and explain to me why the dead son of the King and Queen Dreemurr right here, disguised in your suit of armor?” The trainee didn’t even mutter a word. How on forest blazes did Gerson find out about that?

                Undyne and Rance had seated on the left edge of the log, where Dreas and Papyrus are seated on the right side. Gerson moves closer to the middle and looked at both ways curiously. The sound of flames are the only things you can hear at the moment, before the elder monster asks a question. “Asriel, care to remove your helmet?” he smiles; he gives a strange yet pleasant aura towards him. He hesitates to take off his helmet, until he mustered enough confidence to do it. Revealing his face, Undyne and Papyrus were in shock. “THERE’S THREE OF THEM?” he exaggerates. Undyne was giving a thought. She heard from the king himself that his declaration of war back in the underground was due to the death of his two children. Now that this kid is still here, then what was the point of his declaration? The trainee monster puts his helmet to the side before giving another introduction. “My name is Asriel Dreemurr. I’m the son of Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr… I, uh… came back from the dead thanks to Frisk.” He didn’t mention his true intentions, but instead of going to full details he asks Gerson, “How did you know who I was?”

                The elder monster just laughed and gave him a wink in the eye, “I’ve been with the Dreemurrs for so long, that their friendly presence can be felt from a mile away! I sure do know that the King had a son who died hundreds of years ago, and you happen to come along.” In response to that, the trainee monster facepalms himself, and later he wipes his hand down; there’s no fooling Gerson. “Say, young Asriel. Why didn’t you just go reunite with your parents?” the elder monster asks. Undyne also had the same question and supports him, “YEAH, PUNK! WHY’D YOU HIDE YOURSELF LIKE THAT?” Asriel looks away to Rance, and it looks like the guilt of being with the humans rather than being with his kind arises. Rance intervenes, “The kid doesn’t look like he has the resolve to face his parents, yet.”

                “What do you mean by that?!” she asks furiously. Gerson looks at Asriel’s eyes before saying a word. Rance’s statement is true, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the trainee monster should go with the humans instead. “I want to befriend the humans, just like how Frisk befriended the monsters back in the underground.” the troubled look in his eyes glimmered with Determination, and it is rather foreign for Gerson to see such eyes coming from a monster. “YOUR HIGHNESS, IF YOU REALLY ARE KING ASGORE’S SON THEN TELL ME WHAT IS ASGORE LIKE.” Papyrus asks a question; it must be a trick question but it was an easy one. “Dad is very nice to everyone. He and Mom even welcomed Chara, a human to the family.” Undyne couldn’t believe what she just heard. Then time passed and he shared his story when he first met Chara at the RUINS. That was a very long time ago, before Undyne was even born.

                The warrior was listening well, and through it he didn’t sense any change from the story Asriel provided to him before. “I didn’t exactly want to meet anyone else in the Underground, especially for what happened. But funny thing about it is that Rance lead me here.” He closed his eyes with a sense of irritation; so much for incognito. “To be honest, I never expect to meet a monster who outlived the war between humans and monster… and I didn’t know that he could sense your bloodline.” Rance tries to reason, but it looks like the heat is on him. “I brought him along because he needs some time outside the castle. It’s also bad enough that we had to hide him there with very few knowing his existence, and even I can tell that he’ll eventually grow bored of being stuck there with Frisk.” He looks at the campfire while it reflects in his eyes.

                “So, how long have you been living inside the human castle?” Undyne gives an uncertain look towards the trainee monster. “Three days, counting today.” Asriel looks down a bit and it seems that something is bothering him. Papyrus gives him a pat in the back with a cheerful smile and said, “NOT TO WORRY, ASGORE JUNIOR. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL KEEP YOUR SECRET!” he stands up and gives a proud pose. Undyne gives a nod and added, “With the things happening right now, I don’t think your Toriel or Asgore are in the right mood to see you right now. So I won’t tell anyone as well, believe it!” she clenched her fist and pounds it to her chest, where the heart should be. Rance knows that if you make a promise and do that, you’re vowing to keep it. It somehow cheered the trainee monster up, and in Rance’s turn he gives a sigh before giving his statement, but his is different. “I’m not going to keep any promises, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll make the same mistake as this. Right, Dreas?” Asriel was bothered, but he sensed no lies from his words. Humans are so unpredictable.

                “Rance. Tell me the other reason why you brought him here, in that suit of armor?” Gerson looks at the warrior while sitting on the ground, laying his cane on his frail legs. It looks as if he’s willing to listen to him, but the elder monster is giving a weird aura. “I plan on training him.” it was a straightforward answer that shook the trainee monster, and Undyne responds violently. “Hey, don’t forget that you’re also teaching ME that swing technique!” Papyrus then looks at the warrior and noticed that he’s not fazing at all. Normally, Undyne’s ability to intimidate anyone is enough to make her men quiver. But the look in Rance’s eyes show no fear; it’s like he’s used to it. “WOWIE, HUMAN. YOU DIDN’T EVEN FLINCH WHEN UNDYNE REACTS VIOLENTLY!” Papyrus compliments him. “Huh? I’ve seen worse.” Rance comments while his right eye twitched. He must’ve recalled someone who he mentioned to be worse than Undyne. “HUMAN. MAY I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS MAKE A REQUEST?” Undyne felt like he’s going to ask something horrible.

                “CAN YOU TEACH ME HOW TO BE A GREAT ROYAL GUARD?” Papyrus is brimming, and it looks like she was right. Rance scratches his head while feeling like something is off. “Papyrus, is it? Why not have Undyne train you to be one? She is more than capable of teaching you the basic lessons such as Battle Formations, Code of Honor, Discipline, and even Drill Practice.” From the looks of things, Papyrus is confused and Rance is getting annoyed by his lack of knowledge. The warrior turns around to look at Undyne and asked her, “Do you monsters have different protocols when it comes to training newbies?”

                Papyrus added something that got the warrior irritated, and Asriel doesn’t like what he senses from him. “UNDYNE TAUGHT ME HOW TO COOK SPAGHETTI, AND TOLD ME THAT IF I HIT ANYTHING AND EXPLODES, THEN I CAN BECOME ONE.” Those were not even in the curriculum of becoming a soldier. Rance could picture the skeleton skipping in the field of daisies, which made him angry. He stomps his foot, and a small crater was made. Undyne’s cover was blown, and Papyrus doesn’t have a clue what is going on. Gerson, whose been watching the human’s action didn’t falter from the impact, and as for Asriel… He slid his helmet back on. The warrior gives a long sigh before saying anything, and before long he turns his head to the elder monster and asks him, “Elder Gerson. May I ask to borrow the day tomorrow?”

                Rance was angry beyond reason, but after stomping hard enough he cools down for a little. His words had some knife-edges but he’s doing his best not to flip out. “Hmmm, I will on one condition: You have to beat me in a spar tonight.” He stands up from the ground and walks toward the open arena. There are no lights around, and with that Dreas waves his hand and five floating fire orbs illuminate the camp. It looks like Gerson wants to test Rance’s full potential and to his disadvantage, he’s not allowed to take one’s life. Most of Rance’s attacks are close to breaking several bones, but he knowing that he’s going to face one of the elite monsters of the underground he shouldn’t underestimate his opponent.

                Rance enters the arena, and without warning Gerson readies his cane with a magnifying glass attached to it. Rance noticed that his opponent casted some sort of magic onto his weapon; he readies his light-weight spear in advance. Now that both made their stance, they wait for a sign before making a move. Undyne is completely pumped that he’s going to see the human she recognized as a true warrior, and the elder monster she recognized as a hero, have a fight. Papyrus is also pumped to see how capable Rance really is. While the skeleton brimming with excitement he looks at the trainee, who seems to be focusing his magic pool to maintain the fire orbs. The wind breezes from the east making the leaves rustle, and when the breeze stops blowing, Rance takes the initiative.

                The warrior charges in, and before he could take a step closer he felt like he was hit with an uppercut punch. Gerson only swings his cane up, and it looks like he’s going to swing down. Something hits the opponent from above and it felt like a rock falling on him. Rance was down for the count, but it looks like it only went haflway to count 2. It looks like he can still manage, and this time he changed his approach. Gerson is watching his opponent carefully, and with that he saw Rance blur out. He turns around and slams the magnifying glass on the ground, and created a strong wind force around him. The wind extends, and successfully cancelling Rance’s movements.

                Gerson walks toward his opponent, but Rance didn’t stay long enough to let him get close. He does it again, and this time Gerson swings his cane sideways. Rance reappears, and it looks like something punched him in the face. It’s an unnatural force that something just keeps hitting him, and to make matters worse his opponent can predict where he will be. “Is that the best you can do, assassin?” Gerson gives a taunt, while Rance stands up like nothing happened. His right cheek is slightly swollen from the impact but he doesn’t mind at all. No response; he must be angry or maybe he’s calm. The elder monster smirks like he knows what he’s thinking. The others were in awe; to think that Gerson could see through Rance’s ability to move at almost lightning speed makes him a formidable warrior.

                “No, I’m just getting started.” Rance gives his response, and before Gerson could give a slow response the warrior blurs again. This time, his footwork is more aggressive that the ground looks like something is making it explode. Gerson looks around, confused that the massive stomps he’s making are not only distracting his sense of hearing but his sense of sight thanks to the dirt flying all over the place. Dreas is now seeing how Rance work with his footwork when he adds pressure. In response to his movement, Gerson slams the end of the cane to the ground and a massive energy surface from the ground. The whole arena now has a crater hole, and only Gerson is left standing in the middle. Whatever he did took a toll on his body, as he pants in exhaustion. Before he could wipe his sweat off his forehead, something swoops over his legs, and made him fall to the ground. As soon as he struggles to get up, Rance points his spear on Gerson’s face.

                “Heh…!” there was a glimmer in the elder monster’s eye; Rance gets back with two steps before his opponent withdrew into his shell with his cane. It starts to spin like a top and went rushing towards the warrior. Rance sidesteps, but the cane’s tip came out of the hole and extends its reach forcing the opponent to trip over. Gerson repeatedly hits Rance while he spins with his shell and his cane extending from a hole. After several hits, Rance timed his grip and stops the elder monster from doing any more damage. In response to that, he made the fallen opponent grip the end point of the cane vertically stand, and he comes out of hiding. Gerson made the cane stick came out of his right leg hole, and there he balances himself on the magnifying glass tip like a pro.

                Gerson backflips on his cane, and gripped it like a hammer. He uses his strength to make his cane act like a hammer using Rance’s weight. It was a full circle swing, and the receiving end felt the tremendous impact of the ground. Rance was looking at the sky letting go of the tip, and before he could react the elder monster was about to make a second full swing. This time, Rance’s eyes were fired with Determination and he recovers with a side roll. The magnifying glass end of the cane creates a great shockwave to the south eastern part of the arena that sends the training dummies flying. Rance recovers up and retraced all of the patterns and attacks from Gerson to his mind. “Time for you to retire… permanently.” Rance focused his attention to the elder monster, who was patting his cane to his right shoulder.

                “Let’s see how you will deal with my **special attack**.” He laughs like a ragged old man, and grips the cane with both hands. It looks like he’s going to swing it like a baseball bat, or more like a sledgehammer; he drags the magnifying glass tip on the ruined ground and is ready to swing at any moment. Rance grips his spear and lowers the tip of the blade downwards, but not close to touching the ground. It looks like this will be the final showdown between the warrior and the hero. Rance figured it out what gives Gerson the edge in detecting his fast mobility; the ability to hear the slightest movement and the ability to calculate where it will be landing next. Kudos to the elder monster in having the patience to do so, even though he couldn’t match the warrior’s speed, but it looks like Rance has a plan in breaking his opponent’s momentum. Rance shouts, “Hey Papyrus! What do you tell to a skeleton who can’t take a joke?! … ‘I think your **funny bone** isn’t tingling!’”

                Papyrus, who was in awe of watching two highly skilled fighters spar flips out when one of them made a pun. He exaggerates while putting his hands to his head, “OH MY GOD, HUMAN! YOU JUST RUINED EVERYTHING!” his annoying voice echoed into the opponents’ ears, and broke Gerson’s focus. Rance was also annoyed, but the only difference is that Rance is more resilient to the migraine-inducing voice from Papyrus than Gerson. The warrior takes his chance and strikes with an upper kick, and before his opponent was sent flying above the trees he slams the blunt part of his spear downwards. Gerson was shocked at how he was defeated with a cheap trick, while his body lays on the ground facing the sky.

                Rance offers a hand, and the floating fire orbs finally dissipate. Gerson grabs his hand and accepts a helping hand. As soon as Gerson stands up, he swings his cane to Rance’s head furiously and retorts “That wasn’t fair for you to use him as a distraction!” Rance laughs it off while answering to the elder monster’s retort “In truth, you were also unfair when you kept hitting me while you spin.” An eye for an eye, Gerson felt like Rance is holding back and argued, “Then why didn’t you go all out? I’d expect you to be faster than that?” It is true that it looks like he was still holding back, but he has his reasons. “I’d prefer not to. Last time I did that, well I almost killed one of my men in respond to his taunt.”

                Undyne was brimming when he saw both of them fighting like no other, but when she found out that he was still holding back while using Papyrus as a distraction to win the spar, her expectations shattered. “Why you!” she angrily stomps her feet as she approaches the warrior. Dreas couldn’t believe what he was seeing: if that fight were to be an all-out battle, then he felt that one of them would’ve been dead or dusted. “I figured that if I don’t end the battle soon, my adrenaline rush to permanently put down my opponent would’ve taken over my senses. That’s why I had to finish it soon, and besides. If I take one more hit from him, then I would’ve just survived it with a vendetta.”

                Gerson seems to get the idea, “In other words, if you went all out then you think that you can kill me? Based from your movements, you really were holding back.” He walks carefully as it seems that his back was crooked. He continued explaining, “If what you said is true, then maybe I shouldn’t have hold back on you as well.” It looks like Rance just earned himself a death wish, but he didn’t falter. He gives a determined smile and said, “next time when a real battle between us happens, then that’s when both of us let loose. No cheap tricks or distractions.” Gerson happens to laugh at the warrior’s response. “If there will be any!” both of them laugh it off, while the rest can’t seem to relate. Dreas remembered something. When both Asgore and Gerson were having their own spars, he recalled the same scenario as they laugh it off as if it will never happen. Chara, who’s been quiet for a while brought that scenario to Asriel’s head. The difference between the past and today is that Asgore used a certain magic that creates a sound impulse, which also broke Gerson’s concentration.

                It was getting late and Dreas stands before the forest trees, thinking of what he could do. He participated in the training, and then the thought of lying to the Toll Guard made him feel guilty. Maybe he should’ve just stayed in the castle comforting Frisk from her recent nightmare. Someone walks toward him; it was Rance with his arms crossed. They both looked at the gaps of the trees, and soon after the warrior started the conversation. “Do you know why I had you join us here, instead of sightseeing the city?” the trainee looks up to him curiously. He did mention that he didn’t expect someone to have the ability to recognize his bloodline, but that wasn’t just the case. He looks at Dreas directly in the eyes.

“It would be strange if a trainee were to be looking around and neglecting his training. The city has its rule: if you are wearing an armor with little experience with combat, then you will need to be trained. That should be applied to 13 years and up, but with your disguise you look like you’re going to take over my position… That aside.” That wasn’t a clear explanation from him. He looks back in the depths of the forest, looking at the darkness within it. “The real reason I put up all that so that I can help you persevere the burden you’re carrying right now. I know you are already strong in terms of magic, but with a healthy body you can become even stronger. Not only that, but your mindset would be more positive with ideas and possibilities. I want to help you heal, through a single task of training. Be ready for tomorrow, I won’t cut you some slack. Got it?” he turns back, and when the trainee turns around, the warrior disappeared.

“So that’s why he…” he takes out the hardwood short swords that were sheathed behind him, and looked at it. “He knew what weapons I would prefer to use…” he looks up towards the starry night, and smiled. “I’ll do my best.” The thought of him being kind to him, and taking several steps ahead for Asriel, filled him with **DETERMINATION.**

“Hey Chara… can I ask you one thing? …. When I train, can you cheer me on instead of taking over for me? ….. Thanks, Chara.”

* * *

 

The next day, Rance puts up a commanding stance and made the three have at least 20 push-ups, 10 sit ups, and a round of jog around the camp. Everyone had to put up with the routine; even Dreas who would’ve given up on the first 10 push-ups struggled to accomplish the goals while wearing his armor attachments. Gerson, who was supposed to be training them cooked them some breakfast. With the tasks given, they all ate like there was no tomorrow, but Rance skipped his for the moment. “Undyne, you think you’re ready to learn the technique?!” he stands before the table they were sitting in. She bursts by standing up and slamming both knife and fork to the table, with her eye twinkling with pure confidence, “I WAS BORN READY!” the grub she was eating splashes from her mouth. Fortunately, no one was sitting on the other side, otherwise their breakfast would’ve been ruined. Rance gives a thunderous response, “THEN WHEN YOU FINISH, FORGE UP THE BEST SPEAR YOU COULD MAKE, AND MAKE IT LAST FOR THREE HOURS!” she responds with a ‘YES SIR!’

                She made her water spear as fluid and durable as it could get. It was radiating enough to make it look like it was an ice spear with water inside. Without warning, Rance attached his pillow to the bladed tip and sewed it with a string of rope. Now, her spear looks rather silly but it looks like the warrior is going to explain it. “Now, try swinging downwards!” when Undyne tries to swing, but it felt heavy and slow. The pillow Rance attached to her spear is very fluffy and the weight shouldn’t be heavy enough to slow her swings. She could barely spin it from right to left. “NGAHHH! WHAT IS THIS PILLOW FOR?!” she swings hard enough to make it move, but the blade tip was pushed against the cushion and made the leaves inside it burst out.

                “If you want to learn how my attacks are critical, then this will be your task. Learn how to swing as fast as possible **without ripping the cushion**.” It sounds ridiculous and impossible to do; Rance went to get his spear with a pre-made pillow attached to the bladed tip and then showed a demonstration of his skill. He swings up high and low, and the pillow should’ve slowed his movements. But his swing speed looks fast, and the pillow he attached to it didn’t even rip open. He gives another demonstration by spinning it round and created a whirlwind with it. “I won’t teach you anything else until you learn how to control the flow of your attacks. If you can’t master that, then you don’t deserve to know the next step.” Undyne’s head shows some veins pulsating with anger. It looks like Rance is underestimating her, that she’s not up for the challenge. “DON’T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME. I’LL SHOW YOU THAT I CAN DO BETTER THAN YOU!” she roars out, scaring nearby birds who were nested on the trees.

                Rance shifts his attention to Papyrus who just finished eating his breakfast. “Are you ready to learn your lesson, Papyrus?” he gives a strict tone, but it looks like the skeleton couldn’t contain his energy. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, IS READY FOR ANYTHING!” he gives a proud stance by putting his boot on the table and points his thumb to his chest. Undyne, who happens to be practicing her lesson gives a hard swing ripping out a stack of leaves and flew into Papyrus’ face. The warrior crossed his hands and asks him, “Are you ready to take in some puns?” the skeleton pinched his eye sockets close enough to make a skeptical look before saying a Nyeh. “Just kidding.” Rance looked towards his left with a stern look, and then drops his hands down. “Now, I’m going to task you one thing. If you want to become a great monster you think you are, then show me what you can do.” Dreas look at them and before he and Papyrus knew it, Rance hits the pillow attached on his spear unto Papyrus’ skull. “Do you even know how to sense danger at all?” the warrior gives a dissatisfied question.

                As soon as Papyrus was about to talk, he gets hit with the warrior’s pillow spear. He’s not giving the skeleton a chance to even protest as the other unleashes a barrage of pillow strikes. Undyne stops for a moment when she starts to feel like Rance is taking things too far. It shouldn’t hurt since the cushion has a soft impact, but the way he swings it makes it questionable if it’s really safe or not. The warrior finally stops when he could tell that Papyrus won’t be making any more excuses. “This training will be teaching to read your opponents’ movements. And in doing so, you need to watch carefully.” He readies his pillow spear as if he’s ready to attack at any moment. He gives Papyrus a moment to take it all in before making a move. His eye sockets glow green flames as he starts to analyze his opponent’s stats.

[Rance Vor     STR: A   AGI: S  INT: B  HP: 95%  FP: 90%  Status: Healthy, Focused]

                Papyrus thinks of a way to read more than just statistics. He wants to know the opponent’s next move, but he can’t think of a way to do that. As soon as he lowers his head while confused in thought, Rance strikes again. This time, it sent the skeleton flying upwards. “You must focus and learn your opponent’s move. I’m also making my movements as obvious as possible. If you can’t read basic movements, then you have no future in becoming a Royal Guard.” What he said just triggered Papyrus to go all out by summoning bones from the ground and attack upwards, hoping that he would land a blow on him. Instead, Rance easily dodged them as if he’s playing hop scotch. Irritation became rage, as Papyrus summons a special weapon at hand. He made a spear-length bone staff, and starts to make his charge assault. Whenever he swings it, bones from one side appear and either erect from the ground or fly towards where he wants to hit. But that won’t be enough to actually land a blow on the warrior.

                “I see you try to luck out by swinging at me without even thinking. It won’t do you any **GOOD!** ” Rance side steps a little, and extends his right foot as he ducks down, avoiding a right diagonal swing from Papyrus. As soon as the staff passes through, Rance spins his weapon above him and does a wide diagonal arc swing and with his attack landing perfectly on Papyrus’ left cheek, he was down for the count. “Here’s a little bit of advice: stop thinking that you’re so great all the time and try to think of a way that **ACTUALLY** makes you great.” His opponent’s taunt is like rubbing salt in the wound, and Papyrus is on the verge of tears. He came a long way to learn how to make use of his bone attacks, and now he’s in a privilege stage that he’s being trained by a human Royal Guard. Undyne rushes in and helps Papyrus up, and then looks at the warrior with hostility. But before she could say a word, Papyrus steps in and puts up a fighting stance.

                Papyrus advance his right foot while his left foot points to the side, while his left arm is holding the back portion of his staff and his right arm extends to the upper shaft of his weapon. It looks like he wants to put on a show, but in Rance’s eyes he could tell that the skeleton is on focus. As soon as he lunges towards the warrior, he counters with the same swing he did when Papyrus was going to talk. The skeleton switched his weapon’s position and successfully blocks the warrior’s attack and counters it with a full rotation roundhouse kick. Undyne suddenly looks at that move; it was the same full rotation roundhouse kick she did to him when he begged her to be part of her Royal Guard team. What makes it more interesting is that Papyrus executed it perfectly. As soon as Rance steps back, the skeleton noticed an opening in his opponent’s footing and decides to advance with a thrust attack. He successfully lands a hit on Rance’s chest, which pushed him back a little. Dreas and Undyne couldn’t believe what they’re seeing; Papyrus actually pushed Rance back. The warrior had a serious look on his for quite some time, and all that became quickly disappeared as he laughs it off. “I can’t believe you finally understood how to read my movements! I have to say, among everyone I trained with, no one was able to land a single blow on me. Even when I’m going easy on them!”

                Rance points his index finger up and gives a cheerful expression, as later he gives a thumbs up on the skeleton. An eye for an eye, he made it look like he was provoking him but in reality he made the skeleton realize his own flaw: his naïve pride and hesitation to think of a way to act. He reflected with anger in realization that Rance was making a fool out of him, only for him to let go of that and focus on what Rance is going to do next. Dreas stood up from his seat and looked at Rance differently; the warrior attacks upward and the skeleton blocks with a horizontal grip. They exchange blows and not one of them are landing an actual hit. Whenever Rance swings his spear, Papyrus blocks them. They exchange swings, block and parry. The two are reading each other’s’ attacks as they successfully block and counter at one another, and Undyne’s mouth was wide open with awe. “Let go of your arrogance and watch carefully.” The warrior gives his pointer as they both attack and defend from one another. “Let your opponent’s movement guide you, and make use of it to your advantage.”

                It didn’t take long before Papyrus realize that he was actually sparring against Rance, and both of them seems to be enjoying it. The warrior takes a step to the side and was about to make another wide diagonal arc swing, but the skeleton didn’t let him and swoop the grounds with his bone staff, making the opponent lose his footing and rolls to the ground. Rance didn’t see that coming since he was having fun, while acknowledging the skeleton’s quick learning trait. As the warrior tries to get up, this time Papyrus points the tip of his bone staff on his face and then later he withdrew his weapon to offer a hand. “THAT WAS ACTUALLY FUN!” Papyrus really enjoyed it, and now he looks at Undyne. What Rance said was true, and she couldn’t literally face him anymore now that he actually learns what the warrior was teaching. Papyrus just smiles at her and gave consideration for her actions. Gerson, who was sitting on the camp table was impressed that Rance was able to unlock Papyrus’ fighting capabilities. The elder monster looks away as he sips his cup of tea.

                Undyne clicks his tongue and went back to her training. Papyrus now joins her in learning how to do that swing she was so interested in. She felt irritated that Rance was able to teach him how to fight like that, and then later Papyrus asked her “UNDYNE, WANT TO LEARN HOW TO READ OTHERS’ MOVEMENTS?” she smiles a little at the skeleton and nods. But first they need to know how to control their attacks. Rance then calls out his last student of the day. It looks like the trainee will be expecting harsh training, but he offered a different method. Rance threw his spear towards the tree and had it break a branch. As soon as it was sent flying, he caught it without moving from his spot, while his spear is now lost somewhere in the forest. “Your lesson will be different from the two, and it could be the easiest. But don’t take it lightly.”

                Dreas nods as he ready his hardwood swords in each hand. “I ask you a question, and you attack me with an answer. Be true to your words, and make it your strength. Hesitate or give an unsure answer, and I will strike back.” Dreas prepares as Rance ask him a question: “Why do you fight?” It’s a simple question, but Asriel felt puzzled as to why the warrior asked him that. He hesitated and received a blow to the head with the branch. Thankfully, the helmet given to him prevents him from feeling the full pain of his blow, but the helmet seems to ring into him. He tries again with an answer, “I fight for justice!” he rushes in to attack, only to be dodged easily. “Why do you fight?” Rance asks him again with a spin swing towards his back. This time he felt it and it made his back sore.

                “I fight to… to—“ Once again, Rance hits him. This time on his chestplate; it wasn’t really painful since the attachment but it seems that he’s starting to feel the warrior’s attack growing stronger with each hit. It kept ongoing that Dreas’ armor can’t reduce the impact the warrior is making. From the inside, Chara reminded him why he’s here right now and why he decided to tag along with the humans. Soon, Asriel realized his answer, and stood up once more, and is now ready to strike. “I fight…” Rance swings his stick, only for Dreas to block it with his left. “I will fight to become stronger..!” he swings his right and almost landed on the warrior’s chest. “I will fight to become strong…” Rance strikes again, only for the trainee to dodge and swipe him from the side. “I will fight to become strong, for everyone’s sake!” his attacks are becoming more honest, and his swings are faster than before. “I will fight for everyone’s future!” he remembered how he used his star sabre against frisk, and strikes Rance with little hesitation, until he gives it his all.

                “ **I fight for everyone’s hopes and dreams!** ” Dreas Liem, no, Asriel Dreemurr is bursting with **Determination** as his last cross swing pushed Rance back, while stars appeared like sparks flying off with each blow he makes. Rance can tell that the trainee finally gained himself some self-confidence and a resolve to move on. He felt something tingle inside him and recalled that he also had the same answer when his mentor asked him that question. As soon as the trainee lands his final cross attack, his hardwood swords transformed into something else. The light illuminates bright, and the swords transform from hardwood to something metallic and magical. His training ends with Rance acknowledging Dreas’ answer, while wondering what happened to his given weapon. The identical short swords create a crest of Delta rune in its hilt, while each of them differ with the color of onyx and silver. The blade parts look sharp, but when Rance slid his finger onto it, there was no cut. “It looks like your magic just transformed the weapons I gave you into something that actually suits you.” Rance said while raising an eyebrow. The two who were practicing their swing control looks back to see that Dreas’ weapons transformed into something else.

                “Now, what will you call your swords?” The warrior asks his trainee, while he lays his spear over his back and shoulder. Dreas looks at it carefully, and then he makes a serious expression. He swings the silver short swords with his right and said: “I’ll call this Hope’s Peak.” And then he raised his onyx short sword and said, “and I’ll call this Dream Sword.”

* * *

 

                Before lunch time sets in, Rance and Dreas packed up their stuffs as they are ready to go back to the castle. The trainee learned a lot from that one lesson, and the two who were training together haven’t learned the trick behind Rance’s unique swing. They gave their short goodbyes as the warrior advised them to keep on practicing. While they gave their goodbyes, Gerson went missing. They didn’t have enough time to look for him, so the two left asking Undyne and Papyrus if they could just say it for them. Dreas looks at Rance while Rance looks back. They both nodded as they journey back, and this time Dreas ask if he could ride the warrior’s back. Both of them are worried of what happened to Frisk, and they don’t want to hesitate by walking back to the city. Rance nods with a smile and bends down, as soon as the trainee rides on, they blurred away.

“He’s really something, right Chara? … Did I really change? Ahhh, you’re embarrassing me… What? Yeah, but still……. Maybe, someday. We’ll be able to face Mom and Dad again, and everyone else.”

[Asriel Dreemurr gained (2) trait/s: Perseverance, Courage]

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you like Gerson fighting while pulling his punches? What, did you really think that's the best he can do? Nope. :) Anyway, what about Papyrus learning a new ability, or Asriel gaining something from Rance? Don't worry, I won't change his name to Dreas permanently. You could say that is his disguise, but don't think he learned all the ropes when it comes to fighting with his weapon instead of his magic. The next one will be put on the main story, so stay tune for the next chapter.


	7. [Special] Trial by Darkness piece one: Discord by the Man who Speaks in Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here apologizing for no updates last week. On my Twitter I update my status[ here](https://twitter.com/Roku_Takeru). But because it's not much of a fam to readers, I was not in good condition to finish what i was writing last week. So right now, enjoy a special 2-in-one extra.

                It’s the start of the weekdays for everyone. Morning shines upon everyone, and just before Frisk’s home schooling starts she visited her friend, Asriel Dreemurr, who is currently bedridden. “Good morning, Asriel.” The child went to the side of the bed, while the young monster shifts his head towards his friend. “Howdy, Frisk.” Bandages over his chest is obvious, even when he’s wearing a white shirt. He sits up for a bit, so that he could get a better look at his surroundings. The armoire at the side of the connecting door to Frisk’s room is open wide, with only some spare clothes at the bottom. The armor attachments and his weapon are put on a hanging rack, inside the closet cabinet. Rance must’ve put it there while he was resting. On the left side of the bed is a small table, with a bowl of assortments of hard candy and a glass of water on top.

                A note put on the front of the bowl with a message: “I don’t really know what candy you like, so I put up several of them. You can eat some but only two hours before and after your meals. -Nurse Bianca” that must be her recommendation in maintaining good health. Under the right side of the table, there’s a bucket of water with a clean towel. It might be used in cleaning after the patient, while at the side is a bowl for him to have a potty. The monster doesn’t necessarily need to use it, but just in case he needs to. Lastly, the bookshelf near his study table is filled with the books needed for his study. Sans might have snuck some of them while he was resting. The two who are going to be his teachers are really putting up an effort to ensure that Asriel gets his rest, while they add some stuffs he might need.

                Lastly, there’s Frisk giving the bedridden monster a keypad phone of his own. “I’ll call you when the class starts. So that you can listen to the lessons while you rest in bed.” She says with a warm smile. “Golly, Frisk. Thanks!” he was astonished that they’re giving that effort to keep him updated and fixed. His armor attachment sets and weapons hanging inside his armoire with spare clothes at the bottom part, books stocked for his lessons, food and water, his own phone and potty bowl; he’s being treated as a special guest even though he’s a monster inside Frisk’s human household. Chara in his mind also felt relieved that he doesn’t need to use magic to cloak and attend to his needs, especially with his injuries.

                ‘ _You can walk now that your injuries are not that bad. But they insist that you continue to rest up._ ’ Chara states, while Asriel lays back on his bed thinking of what will be discussed. Frisk looks at her watch and stands up. “See you later, Asriel. Class will be starting toon.” She went for the door going to her room, and with that she bid farewell to him. He can only wave a little, since his shoulders are still feeling slightly heavy. Asriel starts to think that he’s being spoiled with what’s happening. It’s all too convenient for him, yet it looks like they don’t have any problems in doing so. On the second door that connects to the hallway, someone knocks twice and opens the door without his permission. It’s King Farlon greeting the monster good morning.

                King Farlon, the ruler of the Human Capital, and the father of Frisk enters the room. As of this Monday, he wears a purple cloak and royal inner garments, with bronze chest and shoulder plate attachments. He seems to favor bronze rather than gold, as it matches with his greaves and gauntlets. The only gold he has is his crown. Through Chara’s judgment, he could see that the King is in his 50’s from the lines above his forehead, and the tired eyes he has. Asriel could only think of scolding her friend in his mind for her to make bad assumptions, while his friend couldn’t care less.

                The king went in and closed the door, as he approaches the resting monster. “How are you, child?” he greets Asriel. “I’m slowly recovering, Frisk’s father. I can walk now, but my arms are still feeling heavy.” He gives his sincere answer as cheerful as he could. “With proper rest and nourishment, you’ll be up in no time.” The King pinch his eyes close with a smile; it seems his daughter’s smile came from him. “Listen, if you aren’t the type of monster who likes to fight, then you shouldn’t push yourself like that. I’ve already given North a good scolding for training you without my consent.” King Farlon seems to be worried, but instead Asriel doesn’t seem to mind about Rance’s training.

                “It’s okay. Thanks to him, I feel like I’m determined to fight for everyone’s hopes and dreams.” As he talks, he looks at his hands and then looks back to the King. The two suddenly look at the open wardrobe, when his two swords started brimming with light. King Farlon walked towards the light and picked up the black short sword. In his hand, he slides his fingers on the blade; it looks sharp, yet there’s no cut from the King’s finger. He swings it a few times, before returning it to the hanging rack. “Did he also give you these weapons?” Asriel nods, “They were made of wood before, but after the training it turned into those. I’m not sure how I did it, but now they’re like light metal.”

                King Farlon brushes his beard while he looks up, thinking of the monsters’ capabilities. He shook his head a bit and turns his attention back to Asriel. The monster noticed something different about the king, as if he’s forcing himself to stand. His body shakes every few seconds, but it doesn’t seem to say a word about it. “Are you alright?”

                “I’ll be fine, young Dreemurr.” He brushes it off like it’s nothing, but visibly he’s not really well. “You once mentioned that you met Frisk in a fight for her life…” he continues with eyes glaring at Asriel. “Ahh… well… That was…” the young goat tries to explain, but he couldn’t put up words for it. King Farlon noticed that his vulnerability is showing, and changing the topic should help him forget it for a while. “She wouldn’t break, no matter what I threw to her.” Sickness aside, the King didn’t like what he heard. He clenched his own fist while hiding it behind his back and cape. “In the end, she made me remember what is like to be alive. In return, I returned everyone’s souls and broke the barrier.” He takes a yellow candy, and unwraps it before eating one. “Did my daughter sustain any injuries in your fight?”

                Asriel talks with a candy clashing with his teeth to the cheek. “Not really, she’s very fast. I couldn’t even hit her.” Just when he said the last part, he accidentally bit the side of his tongue. “Aowuch!” his eyes widen by the sudden jolt of pain, and his shoulders raised up a bit while his long ears flopped up. The goat child immediately covers his mouth with both hands, while taking the hard candy off his mouth. In turn, the yellow candy had small stain of red. Regardless of him being a monster who has the ability to absorb human souls, he’s still a child who can make mistakes, the King thinks. King Farlon went to the side and picked up the wet towel.

                He twists it a bit to the bucket of water, and then sits down on the bed side to wipes off Asriel’s mouth. He’s bleeding, but the red stains dissipate to dust after wiping it off. While Asriel wipes his cheek a little, his hand glows in green and soon after his tongue wound heals up. “Huh? How did I…” King Farlon stands up and drops the towel. “It seems that you could heal yourself…” he said calmly, while the glowing hand disappears. “I-I don’t know how.” He turns his attention to Frisk’s father with a confused tone. “Well, until you figure out how to do that again, you will be resting in your room.” The King doesn’t seem to mind what Asriel just did, as he dips the towel into the bucket to soak it, and then twisted it tightly. The clear water slightly had some white dust mixed into it. He then hands it to the goat child, who lays in bed trying to think of how he did it.

                Just when he was about to take the clean towel, the King whispered something to Asriel’s ear: “Take care of my daughter when I’m gone…” the goat child paused in shock while King Farlon walks to the door. The young monster suddenly springs up, “Huh?! Mister, what do you mean by that—“ his phone rings, and the King turns his attention to the door. “Excuse me.” He exits the door, and for a while he looks back and thinks of what the King just said. There was the time when he collapsed just outside of Frisk’s room, and the movers helped him. He’s hiding the fact that he must be gravely ill, and with that thought he answered the phone in loudspeaker. Class is session for both Frisk and Asriel, yet he couldn’t focus very well.

* * *

 

                It’s been some time since the lessons have started, and the King is curious about the progress. He went to take the elevator to the first floor, and headed straight to the library. As he opens the door to the hallway that leads to several rooms, including the library room, there were two pairs of maids and butlers who are talking in groups. “What seems to be the hesitation of your duties?” King Farlon approached them, and to their surprise, they all put their right hands and bowed a bit. “Your highness, a short skeleton monster is there homeschooling the princess about the basics of Science!” He enters the library and went just next to the skeleton. He faces to the doorway and pointed, “This is Sans. He took care of Frisk from harm’s way when she went to Mt. Ebott.” The session paused as the skeleton and warrior looks at the king.

                “Don’t mind me, I am just here checking to see how are things going.” He walks back to the hall of books, while he listens. “alright, back to where we left off.” Sans suggest, and soon after the people started to come and clean certain spots of the library one by one. King Farlon picks up two books, green and white with him and left the library. He went to the dining room and asks the maid to get his morning herbal tea, and as soon as the maid brings him a cup, a guard enters the room and approached the king. “Your highness, your guests have arrived.” He closes his eyes and sips his tea, hoping that it would be enough to give him strength.

                The king stood up from his chair, and went to the entrance door with his guard. Five out of six guards on each pillar have saluted as soon as the door was opened for him. Before them are King Asgore, Queen Toriel, and Papyrus. “Welcome to my abode.” King Farlon greets them with a smile.

* * *

 

                Dianne was just at the North City streets, walking in her casual Monday wear. Yellow shirt, and white skirt. Her shoes are clean white, and non-heeled. She happens to be on her day-off, as she strolls around the block to meet her new friend. After a while of walking to the east side of North, the area there are nowhere near industrial or entertainment buildings. The lot there are mostly houses of 2-3 story buildings, and one of them near the middle, is another apartment building that looks like it’s not maintained. The windows above have gunshot holes, and the door is slightly dusty. The trashcan at the front is almost full, and the front porch has some cracks. The walls aren’t necessary old, but some hinges have cracks. From what Dianne could tell, it’ll stand for half a dozen years.

                She knocks on the door twice, and little later after, a guy about as tall as her opens the door. It’s Seven Gears only in his red inner shirt, dark green and brown pants, and green lion slippers. Judging from his appearance, he’s somewhat fit, and obviously just woke up. His hair is spiking up like flames, while some are pointing down. “Oh, hi Dianne.” He muffles while he brushes his teeth with his right hand holding his tooth brush. “Hey Sven, May I come in?” She asks nicely. “Shure…” he turns to the side, letting his guest in as he closes the door. They climb up the stairs and went to the third right door, where he lives. “There was a party here last night, so most of the people are still sleeping.” He continues, and as he opens the door, there a large lion man in his sleep coat and blue pajamas is sweeping the floor.

                The room they have only has one living room combined with the kitchen, one bathroom, and two bed rooms. And judging from the uncleaned plates and utensils, two cans of beer on top of the TV and their small trash bin is full. It seems that they also had a party. “ **Seven, please do the dishes. I’ve already done my part just yesterday, yet you didn’t sweep the living room.** ” Deep voices coming from Giga as he gives him a scolding. He turns around and see that he’s with Dianne. “Good morning, Giga. How was the party last night?” she greets the lion man. “ **Son here mixed my tea with beer, and I couldn’t remember what happened afterwards.** ” He continues to sweep, as the gun man gargles his mouth on the sink. Soon after, he puts away his tooth brush next to the plate trays and started doing the dishes.

                “Yeah, and I got to drink his tea by mistake. Hehe… The guys next door gave me the pictures of what happened last night, and it was as wild as pops.” He must be referring to Giga, and judging from how they mention one another, they’re like Father and Son. There’s a dresser mirror on the right in between the two doors; there are several pictures of them and other people having a wild party. Some of them have the lion man having goofy poses, while the gun man is with an unknown blonde girl. “Sven, who is this girl with you?” she asks in a disappointed, yet curious tone. “Dunno, most of the tenants were too wasted to even know what’s going on, and took a photo of me with her by surprise.” He replies carelessly.

                Giga just realized something, as he drops the broom and rushes to see the pictures. He snatched them from Dianne’s hands as she turns her attention to Seven, asking him what’s his relation with the blonde while the lion man twitches an eyebrow, seeing himself either with a lamp hat over him with a rattle on his tail, or him being wasted with a pair of women riding his shoulders. It’s a big embarrassment for him, as he roars out loud “ **I SHOULD’VE JUST WENT FOR A WALK!!** ” it didn’t take long for the other tenants to start waking up and helped clean their apartments. Several of them sweep and mop, while some are polishing their furniture. Everyone helped in cleaning up, even Dianne, who took out the trash for the two. Giga gives her a towel to use in cleaning her arms, while Seven gives her a cup of coffee.

                “Thanks for helping us out, Dianne.” Seven gives his thanks while they both sit down at the side of the porch. “I happen to pass some time, after all that work.” She gives a sigh while looking at her cup of coffee. The gun man looks at his watch, and saw that it’s already 10am. “I should’ve given you a cup of coffee earlier, but well… dishes.” He gives an impression while he reasons with her, but she doesn’t mind. She just takes a sip, and smiles at him while foam gets to her upper lip. Seven laughs out loud at her, as Dianne realizes that she grew a foam-stache. “Ahhh! You could’ve said something, you know!” she was flustered, while he slows down in laughing. Their moment together didn’t last long, as she finished her cup, the couple stood up and dusted off their behind.

                “What job are you going to get?” She asks while they both went inside. “I might work with your brother. You know, being a new Royal Guard Assistant recruit?” they head for the sink as he puts it away. Giga in his yellow hoodie sweater, was watching T.V. while the two leans over the table near the window as they converse, “Are you sure? My brother doesn’t like to work with people who fight in ranged combat.” She says with a disinterested expression. The gun man doesn’t understand why, but how she expressed was rather off. “Well, I’ll make things interesting for him. You did say that each Royal Guard can have up to three assistants. Maybe Giga can join in with me.” Dianne couldn’t be more troubled with his suggestion. “Aside from disliking ranged fighters, he hates monsters.” She looks down on the floorboards.

                “After what happened before, I couldn’t see him working with a monster.” Her tone was depressing, but Seven doesn’t seem to relate. “Don’t worry! We’ll manage.” He cheers on with a sunny smile. Dianne smiles back, but just a little. “Well, if you need help with the application just give me a call.” She stands away from the table and fixed her hair into a ponytail. “Well, I’ll be going now. I need to bring the King his notes.” She walks out of the room, and the gunman accompanies her while putting on his jacket. Just at the front door, the two gives off one last smile at each other. “Sven, be sure to have your guns registered. I’ll work on the details for your age licensing.” She says with a glee, while the gun man replies. “Thanks, and be sure to update me when your brother is available.”

                As soon as Seven opens the door, the apartment rooms start to get noisy with people screaming. The two look back in vigilance while each scream disappears, one by one the loud shriek of fear suddenly goes quiet. “Oh no, Pops!” the gun man rushes to his room, and the rogue followed. As they get there, a tall pale man with black eyes in black coat with oozing dark tentacles taking a grip on the lion man’s neck up, as he struggles to get away. Seven immediately took out his revolver hidden behind him and shot a pot. The bullet ricochet around the room, from the pot, to the edge of the mirror dresser, and to the floorboards. The bullet bounced up towards the man’s forehead. The bullet stopped just before it touched the forehead, and then the bullet was redirected towards the rogue at the side.

                Before the bullet went straight for her right eye, she takes out a dagger from under her skirt and blocked it. The bullet ricochet around the room again, while the abductor doesn’t mind the distraction. With one black crack falling towards the pitch mouth, while the other crack extends to his head Dianne felt fear. Giga pulls himself towards the pale man and gave it several kicks in the face. The tentacle’s grip was let loose, but a hand with a hole on the palms grabbed the lion’s mouth shut. A black light sparks, and the lion man disappears. “Pops!!!” he shouts out. Now, the pale man looks at the two humans, as the black eyes shined white while the cracked grin widens. “Dianne, go! I’ll hold it off!” he grabs another revolver and went for a dual wield shot. His left fires directly at the man, while his right ricochet around, trying to hit his opponent in a possible blind spot.

                The pale man gives a syntax sound, while Seven’s vision suddenly blurred into a negative. He backs up a little while he shook his head, pinching his eyes closed. His senses were confused, and Dianne couldn’t do anything about it. She threw her dagger towards the pale man, but it stopped halfway. The dagger’s tip was rotated towards her, as it was sent flying. She caught it, but through distraction the man appeared from underneath her, and palm strikes her chest. It was a powerful shove that sent her flying. She lands on her feet against the wall, and immediately steps down as she lays down on the floor, rolling into a fetus. “Dianne!” Seven looks around, but it seems that he couldn’t see anything.

                It didn’t take long before the footsteps of a man came closer towards him. The gun man’s sights have turn negative, and his movements are confused. He moves his head right, but goes to his left. He tries to walk forward, but his feet goes back. His right and left arms’ control have been switched, and his situation is giving him a headache. “YOU BASTARD, YOU WANNA FIGHT, THEN COME AND GET ME!” he taunts while he pause his movements. The footsteps are getting closer to him, while the rogue's saliva oozes out, as she struggles to breathe. “n..no… s-se…ven…” she faces towards the gun man as she crawls toward him, using the dagger to pull herself towards him. He gives a sad laugh, as his head moved to the opposite of where she lays. “I guess, this is it for me….” The man warps where he looks. Then Seven turns to Dianne, with light blue iris distorted to white, while the rest is black. “If anything bad happens to me… Finish the job...”

                At that moment, the man extends his hand in taking a hold of the gun man’s shoulder, and with senses finally understood he points both guns toward the man. But a black spark made him disappear in thin air before he could pull the trigger on his opponent. His left silver revolver remains, and drops to the floor. Dianne was paralyzed in confusion, while anger boils up inside her. The pale man walks toward her, and before he could extend his hand towards her, a white beam bursts out from behind her. A hole was made on the 2nd floor extending to the other house, and the pale man disappears. The apartment became quiet for a moment, and then she heard familiar footsteps.

                She looks up, and saw Sans offering a hand. “get up, kid. this is no time to be laying down on the job.” He puns. She accepts his offer as she tries to walk, holding her stomach. She later approached where Seven was abducted, and picks up the gun and puts it on her purse. She regains her composure, as she asks the skeleton, “Who was that?” she looked at him seriously. He was going to pun, but judging from her eyes, she won’t take that for an answer. His blue glowing eyes went dim into a black, and faced her. “i can’t tell you who he is. but next time, there won’t be a next time. Just… **b e w a r e  o f  t h e  m a n  w h o  s p e a k s  I n  h a n d s . . . h e  d o e s n ‘ t  e x I s t . . .** ” a terrifying chill went through her spine. It didn’t take long before the police have arrived. She exits the apartment and testified what she just witnessed. Sans disappeared, and what he just said might be something worth putting in her intel. She clenched her hands into a fist, and had eyes determined to find her friends, and everyone else. “I’ll find everyone.”

* * *

 

                While the princess with her guard and friend had taken, the two kings will be discussing something important, while Toriel joins in as a temporary queen representative as requested by Frisk’s father. The three are having tea in a garden near the library walls. They sit in fancy chairs and stone table, with a logo of the Human Capital’s emblem: The Alpha Guard. A Shield checkered in orange and purple, with three edges at the top, and one at the bottom. In the middle of the shield, there’s a compass; orange outlines and blue overalls. Behind the shield, there are two swords sheathed in the diagonal. The handles are on the top, while the tip are on the bottom. King Farlon is seated where the North points, King Asgore is seated at the South West, and Toriel is seated at the South East. Around them are white statues of armored knights with pike spears and the Alpha Guard shield. While in between two statues that leads to the entrance of the large bush maze, there’s a fountain with clear blue waters.

                The sight around the garden is beautifully tranquil, that the two kings cannot bear fangs over political issues and whatnot. Birds chirping as some flew at the edge of the fountain, resting their wings as the scene relieves them. “Golly. It is envious to see such a magnificent location. Shall we start our discussion?” King Asgore suggests before picking up his tea cup. “With the children occupied by the tour, let us proceed.” King Farlon replies as the two gives a sip. Jade Dragon Fruit Tea, a known use for it to enlighten the mood gives the three a proper mind set.

                “I am happy that you could join us in our discussion, Mrs. Dreemurr.” King Farlon gives his commend. “No need to be so formal, King Farlon. I was late invited by Asgore, and Sans has to take me to a shortcut in getting here.” She smiles while she reasons. It was news to her that they will be having a discussion, even though she personally left her position open to someone else. It might have been the human king’s persistence to ask if she could join, regardless of the monster king’s decline. “You might want to discuss why we need her to be here.” King Asgore rudely jest; he’s not in a good mood as he closes his eyes while he sips his tea. “We could discuss her needed attendance later. As of now, how is the city construction?”

                “It was finished a few days ago.” he replies with a calm tone. “Already?” King Farlon couldn’t believe it. They only established after the camp was disbanded for them to lay their foundation. “Yes. With acceleration and support magic, we were able to finish all of it in three days.” The human king takes his small plate and puts his cup there, while holding both. “Then, connecting both kingdoms with asphalt and highway roads should be the next step in having both capitals.” He suggests as he glance at the other king. “We shall, but I would like to ask if the discrimination of your kind against ours has been abolished.” King Asgore points that out. “That is one of the issues we are currently facing. Some have already accepted this, but there are still others who aren’t convinced that monsters aren’t all good.”

                Just at the internet, there are hate groups against monsters. There are also new hate groups that were formed against the king for making a decision out of the blue. Speculations that are mostly tagged that either the king was easily swayed, or under mind control. In knowing their stories, he had Dianne Vor act as a regular civilian to investigate their motives, whether they might cause some problems or not.  King Asgore gives a conclusion, “The road to connect both kingdoms will be withheld until the issue has been cleared.”

                The two agreed. A maid had come out from the castle to deliver a tray of teapots and crumpets; the three had glanced for a moment before turning back to one another. “Which reminds me, King Asgore. Why did you shove a muffin in Papyrus’ mouth, when you could have just order him to be quiet?” King Asgore gives a cold expression and answered, “I have already mentioned to him before not to speak unless he is told to.” Toriel gives a worried expression. The monster king is changing, and in her guess is that he’s aware of his actions. “My daughter mentioned to me that you’re one of the nicest monsters in the Underground, that you could tolerate everything and smile at them. But now I get the feeling that it doesn’t necessarily apply to everything.” King Farlon gives his statement, before pouring another cup of tea to his cup.

                He puts it back in the middle where the two could have some. Asgore was focused on Farlon, while Toriel wasn’t aware while both were reaching for the teapot. “Well, that was—“ both hands have laid to one another, and the two look at each other for a moment. The monster king pulls back his hand, and gestured her ‘you first’. There’s also the issue that King Farlon couldn’t understand: both of them are the same type of monsters, and it was known that they were both married, but now it seems that they have no regards with one another. Not anymore, the King feels. After Toriel had some, she puts it back to the middle where the handle points south.

                “That is true, but now that we’re facing certain problems I couldn’t help but feel anxious.” King Asgore lied, by changing the subject. He continued, “After the construction has been cleared, I have sent my sentries to scout the area. At first, Dogamy and Dogaressa have discovered an area thick with fog further north of our city. Later, they haven’t returned with any reports. I’ve sent Lesser Dog and Greater Dog to find the missing couple, but they’ve also went missing.” King Farlon closes his eyes for a moment, while recalling what could be at the northern part. “They must have stumbled on an abandoned village called the Abundant Life Village.” Toriel asks, “Abundant Life Village? That sounds like a nice place for people to stay.”

                King Farlon declines her idea. “It did sound nice, at first. But after discovering that they have been following unnecessary rituals by sacrificing children to Mt. Ebott, we’ve terminated the village and the inhabitants’ functions 12 years ago.” The Dreemurrs looked at one another when the King had given them a revelation, as to why children keep falling to the underground. “The children…. were sacrifice?” the grim look in Toriel’s face as she could imagine their joyful faces in deep despair. King Asgore couldn’t swallow the tea he just sipped as King Farlon continues.

                “Villagers select children who are gifted with strong virtues or talents. And without warning, they hang and burn their parents, while they throw them off to the depths. After the village’s termination, my men have investigated for clues and records of their actions. It turns out that they have been doing it every half a millennium.” Asgore and Toriel could remember when Chara first fell in the underground. That was more than one thousand years ago. More news despaired the two, that the real reason why their child was delivered to the underground was that she was betrayed by her own kind, along with the other six children who fell to the underground. But if it has been happening for that long, why didn’t the humans do anything about it?

King Farlon suspects that question, as he adds. “If you are asking why we didn’t do something about it. I wasn’t the previous ruler at that time. It was only brought to light, thanks to Dianne when she was five. That was the time when her and her family were saved by the **two puppies** she testified in the court.” King Asgore hesitates to ask, “What became of the humans who holds that custom?” he’s worried that if those people are loose, they might repeat the culture. “For not mending their ways, and declared civil war against their King, they were all **executed on the spot**.” Silence had taken over for a while, and the two are starting to hesitate whether they should trust King Farlon or not. “I didn’t want to take anyone’s lives, but if no one is going to do something, more people will have to die for their own accord. It’s my duty to protect my kind, but it’s also my duty to prevent them from killing one another in hopes of realizing what they want to achieve.”

Toriel couldn’t agree, “Why not just lock them up in a dungeon, o-or have them banished to another country to never come back!” the two fell silent. She shook her head, as she pressed on. “There should be another way, there has to be!” she is in the verge of grieving, but King Asgore broke his own silent moment. “If there are those who are beyond your control running loose, are you expecting them to be forgiven easily? They have committed their own mistakes, and pursued them to the very end. If they are locked up, and somehow escaped, would the situation escalate further and have them killed later on for their crimes? Or are you expecting them to be dropped off to our underground home, and have the King serve justice in their colors?”

                King Asgore gives question that are too difficult to answer. King Farlon ends the topic, “If it weren’t for Führi and Krauser’s actions, then Dianne and Rance Vor would have been dropped off. And if we didn’t act fast, then it would have been the same for Nurse Bianca and her brother Lugina. As their father already had a rope tied to his neck.” How he said it is like he assumed that the children that had fallen to the Underground are dead. “As for your missing monsters, we should conduct a search on that location on the next three days, together. I will have to bring my best men, so that no one should lose one another.” He never mentioned anything else, as he changes the topic. It took them a while before they could even start another, since it was too intense for both the Dreemurrs. “May I ask how Frisk is doing?” Toriel politely asks.

                “She is doing fine. Thanks to your care and Sans during her stay in the Underground.” King Farlon shares them her condition. “I am glad that she is alright.” King Asgore says as well. A thought passed through Toriel’s mind, as to why she was invited here with them at short notice.

                “Frisk once told me that you took care of her like a mother, and wanted to become a school teacher. Right now, she needs to be taught without feeling discomfort from her father’s wishes.” The monster king sits quietly, sipping his tea with his eyes closed. Toriel looks down on her cup, as the jade color reflects back at her. “If you are avail, would you want to be one of her teachers?” King Farlon asks. She looks back at the king and asks, “But what about the transportation? Sans cannot bear transporting us back and forth without feeling exhaustion.” After the black substance that came off from the skeleton’s skull, Sans could only teleport at limited intervals.

                “It’s either I get my driver to transport you and Sans by car, or you could stay at the household.” King Farlon gives his offer; he’s putting a lot of effort in getting her to agree. Asgore puts down his cup on the small plate he currently holds on the other hand, and looks at her with discontent. “You can have her as one of your teachers.” The two looked at her, Toriel couldn’t accept the fact that Asgore is just giving her away like that. King Farlon looks at them, confused whether the King is really okay with it or not. Toriel looks concerned why she was being appointed, and she could only think of one reason why Frisk needs to be homeschooled by familiar faces. “King Farlon, may I ask why Frisk needs to be home schooled by us instead of your people?” That idea also peaked the monster King’s curiosity.

                “I have tried, but most of the people I have hired couldn’t teach her without someone familiar asking her to stay. She doesn’t like anyone else but her mother teaching her the basics, and her mother… isn’t here with us anymore… Fortunately, she seems to like having Sans as one of her tutors, as well as North.” He explains in brief, but Toriel isn’t contented with that answer. There’s more to it than that. “Frisk told us that she ran away because of your strict orders, as well as the fixed marriage. Is that true?” Two kings suddenly shifted their attention directly at her. Asgore didn’t know that, and Farlon didn’t know that Frisk told her that.

                “Frisk told us her story when she doesn’t want to go back to her home, but she was convinced by young Dianne and Rance to come back.” Toriel says in concern. King Farlon couldn’t swallow his tea as he listened to the story that happened. It seems that the Vor siblings did resort to that in order to get her back, and the King couldn’t do anything about it. “King Farlon, what can we do to help you recover your health back?” she asks, but the human king hesitates. “There is no cure for my illness, and there are some things that my daughter should not know at her age…” he puts down his cup and plate on the table. “But you have been in full strength when we were locked in combat.”

                “I was, but only at a short time. You could say that… I’m still holding on what strength I have left just to stay alive…for her sake…” deep inside, he’s a good man who would do whatever it takes to make everyone happy, even if blood is spilled on his hands. [“If only she knew…”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pii5U-bmaSE)

                _Our nation is as strong and independent, that it lived happily contented with what we have and what progress it brings. I have been doing what is needed for everyone, even when despair had clutched on the people’s hopes we didn’t give up. Never did we abandon the possibility, and saved ourselves from the brink of extinction from the Red Moon, and solved several villages’ concerns or problems, diplomatic or bloodshed._

_Then, hope was brought to greater light when my wife and I had our first child. Because our country solved its problems with and without the help of foreign countries, the neighboring ones became jealous. A false rumor spread like a plague, that put our homeland on the verge of War. Our alliances with the other countries have been cut off, no thanks to the Corvus. And if we are to stop a war from happening, they proposed that our first born should be married to theirs._

_If not, then the Alpha Guard alone will face against the Delta Steel and its alliance with other countries. It was an unfair speculation, and a great sabotage to have us cut off from others’ help, but for the sake of everyone else I have agreed to the terms. The queen is against it._

_Frisk, our child who did nothing wrong, who lived her life happily at first changed from the best days of her life to the better, and then slowly from bad to worst. I became a selfish person to her eyes for having her experience harsh studies and discipline at the age of 8. What kind of parent would want to do that? My wife- her mother was the only one giving her a fragment of happiness, for as long as she could endure. She also understood my intentions, as for how many times did she stop me from going too far._

_My own child, despaired for her father’s actions, while gaining little hope from her mother. Until one day, her mother became very ill. It didn’t take long before fate took her life from the both of us. My child grieved beyond expectations, as her cries made the sky give sympathies. My goal to protect the people, but for me to sacrifice her happiness… I am the worst father in history of mankind._

_I wanted to tell her to become independent, so that she could live her life knowing what she could do when she’s tied with someone else. That’s what I want her to become, but she doesn’t know that, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that. Her own bodyguards and caretakers were always pulled away due to their duties, as their time for her is very little. It broke her into a deeper despair, that when Frisk found an opportunity to escape, she took that chance._

_I realized that the mistake I’ve committed had deeper repercussions, and to atone for them I need to show her how sorry I am for being the worst father. I’ve send majority of my men in hopes to find her, and bring her alive. I’ve also joined the search party to ensure that she’s not harmed by anyone, even in my unknown condition. I wanted to tell her all that, but I don’t know if she would ever accept me back as her father. I don’t even know if I would ever make it to tell her the situation this country is facing. If she only knew—no if she could understand, without cursing her fate, then that alone should put me at[ease](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pii5U-bmaSE)._

Everyone felt silent, but the fountain’s water flow. Even the birds that should be chirping didn’t make a sound. The Dreemurrs couldn’t put up a smile, even if they try. “Golly, I never knew how heavy the burdens you carry.” King Asgore said with a gloom on his face. In that situation, Toriel wanted to say that it would be best if he chose to keep his child’s happiness, but what about the rest? “Why are you telling us this?” Toriel asks in concern. “I wanted her to be happy, that she could be with the people she loved…” judging from his expression, it excludes himself.

                “But Frisk still loves you, does she not? Otherwise she would have chose to stay in the Underground!” Toriel stood up, justifying that thought. “Yes, she may have run away from home because of your harsh actions. But she didn’t know that her father, everyone in this country will be facing. But that does not mean that you should continue to degrade your life without you. It would only break her heart even more!”

“Just tell her the truth, and how much you love her. What you are doing for her, and for your people. It’s never too late for her, as your child is smart enough to understand her situation.” At that moment, King Farlon heard a familiar voice in Toriel’s words. His wife; Frisk’s mother’s dying words.

‘ _Please tell her the truth, and tell her how much you love her. She’ll understand. Our child is as smart and understanding as her father._ ’

                Tears were swelling up within King Farlon’s eyes as he recall his wife’s gentle and kind words. Toriel was on the verge of tears, due to the human’s reasoning. Out of nowhere, small black holes appeared in several spots out of thin air, and some of them are facing the caretaker. Asgore noticed them, and before something happened he drew out his red trident and acted immediately. “Toriel, look out!” he jumped up on the table and pushed her away, falling into the ground. Bullets came out of the hole and unloaded several rounds. Some of them were deflected, and immediately alerted the other King. Two landed on Asgore’s leg, as he fell from the table and unto an empty space near the caretaker. He bends over as he held his leg, as Toriel sits up screaming Asgore’s name in concern. The holes disappeared, and then have relocated towards Toriel.

                In the midst of confusion, King Farlon mustered up what remaining strength he had left, and unsheathed his rapier. He deflected them, only for it to ricochet around the statues and pavements back towards him. In his execution, the King decides to cut down his own stones to rubble to prevent the attack from escalating while the storm keeps causing them confusion. Each swing generated three air slashes, which made the deflecting attempts easier. The more he deflects, the more blood he coughed. Due to the alert, the guards were alerted and came to the scene, only for the never-ending attack to confuse them. “Your Highness, we’re here to—“

                One of the deflected bullets ricochet on the walls as well, and wounded one of the guards. “Take our guests to a safe place immediately!” Asgore looks at the staggering King, as more blood drips to the ground. Eventually, Farlon slows down due to excessive pressure and exhaustion, and took three bullets almost hitting his heart. The attack had halted, and the king fell to the ground, almost unconscious. The butlers and maids were alerted as well, as some have come to aid them. The guards rushed in to aid the other King, as Toriel sits up and saw the damage. The tables and walls of the castle had bullet marks; statues cleanly cut, and the fountain is filled with holes. The human king gasps for air, while his eyes were pointed at someone. Before his consciousness has drifted, he saw someone who is similar to death himself.

                “King Farlon, please… Do not give up…” Asgore says while guards carry him by shoulder. The maids and butlers brought out a stretcher while some have alerted the ambulance as soon as possible. “Stay determined…” One of the maids have approached the caretaker as she asks, “Your highness, you must not space out in the open. We need to take you to safety.” She pulls her hand, while Toriel was on the verge of blacking out. But she just realized something… Did Asgore mentioned her name, and protected her? The clock points quarter to 6, just before the abduction had occurred.

* * *

 

                It was after lunch when Sans just teleported Toriel to the household, and went to the University where he could pick up his documents. With his strong memory, he commutes to his destination; teleporting is more exhausting than walking, and a huge insult to his title of laziness. Other than that, he would like to see how it all goes while he enjoys the scenery. The King gave him a day of free pass, like an autograph stamped on a plastic ID. People seem to avoid him wherever he goes, but he doesn’t mind. They’re just typical humans, he thought. It was a long commute, and just at the midst of reaching the destination, he snaps his fingers and decides to teleport there.

He could’ve done it without walking, but it would be more efficient for him to shorten the destination length: the further the destination, the more will exhaust Sans. The place was just as amazing as the castle the humans have. The floor had a beautiful gloss of green and black checker pattern, halls extend to the campus are clean, and the school bulletin boards are filled with information that are updated. School events, expected guest lists of the day, and most likely the newly awarded students.

Sans is one of the expected guest on the list, while Bianca is listed on the top 10 role model students of the month, ranked 4th. The skeleton reads the bulletin board hoping that he would know where he should meet the person who notified him, but to his surprise one person approached, without considering that he’s a monster from the underground. “My chap, here to enroll on our institute?” A tall gentleman with a formal gentleman attire with a top hat, and a monocle on his right eye, while holding a cane with his left. “nah, just here to meet a guy name dunkelheit.”

                The man adjusted his monocle, and asked “And you are?” Sans simply grins with two of his glowing eyes focused at him. “my name is sans. sans the skeleton.” He extends his hand with a grin impression, but in his mind he could tell that this person isn’t very fond of monsters. The gentleman accepts his offer, breaking the skeleton’s expectations. “My name is Dunkelheit Domosh Wissen. I didn’t expect you to be the one to have top the exam results.” The smile in him seems to be dark, but in the end they were able to have a pleasant conversation. They could get along in both intellectual topics, and façade.

                Mid-afternoons, and Sans leaves the university with a long brown folder on his right hand clipped to his right body. He casually walks on the streets, being avoided by most people. Up until he stops by the park to rest up; there were people looking at him sit on an empty bench near some trees. He could tell that no one else wants to sit with him, since he’s a monster. Sans understood how they feel, as most monsters wouldn’t sit with a human they don’t know. It’s ironic that discrimination still exists, even after their King’s declaration. With exhaustion he felt for going back and forth using his ability, he falls asleep sitting up.

                In his dream, it’s a void filled with people he doesn’t recognize. There, he also spotted familiar and unfamiliar monsters. One of them was Greater Dog curled up within its armor, while Dogaressa looks around lost. There are some humans who are also confused as to where they are, and not one of them noticed the skeleton floating around, looking for answers why he’s having this dream. In a glimpse, he wakes up to find that the sun is starting to dawn. “heh, what a weird dream.” He said to himself, while he slid his hand from his head to his chin.

                “I was hoping when you will wake up.” A familiar voice had spoken beside him, and to his surprise it was Dianne in her rogue outfit. “Tell me, Sans. Who was that dark figure?” she faces him. “That person. Well, he doesn’t exi—“ he was abruptly interrupted with a dagger slid before his neck spine. “Don’t give me that bull…” she wouldn’t want any more riddles to slow her down, but the skeleton simply puts his hand and pushed the blade away, with one eye socket bursting in blue fumes. There weren’t any spectators around them at that time, and he still has his papers with him. In this instance, a fight would initiate, but because he doesn’t have accurate information about her, he wouldn’t want to be the first casualty among monsters.

                “We’ll discuss everything, once everyone is there to listen.” Sans closed both eye sockets as he takes his folder at hand, while picking up his phone. “Fine…” Dianne looks away, as lamp posts around them are being lit up. Sans noticed that his phone is on flight mode, and the rogue noticed it as well after shifting her attention towards the skeleton. “oh, i forgot that i was on airplane mode.” He comments; Dianne puts her left hand on her waist and asks why. “because the prof and i were flying towards intellectual advancements.” He raised both hands up as if he had people watching them, while at the same time there was the comedy drum sound that came from behind.

                The rogue looks back in surprise when it all went too well. Then, she looks back at the skeleton and commented, “I swear to the King, that was weird. It’s like someone was anticipating a bad joke.” Sans looks at Dianne with a joyful grin expression and said, “well. what can i say? my jokes can kill a crowd.” That wasn’t even funny, yet someone keeps bringing up the drum humor. Until that person realized that it was a really bad joke, a guy just said out loud “wait, that’s not funny!” Sans closed one eye socket and snaps his fingers. The guy behind the drums started screaming for his life, as he runs away from what appears to be, a large Gaster Blaster chasing him out. Dianne recognized the guy as the Janitor of the park.

                The two looked at him run for a while, before looking back at each other, laughing at it. “Now that’s funny!” Dianne jests, while Sans disables the airplane mode. “Oh, 10 notifications. 7 from Pap, and 3 game requests from Alphys.” He scrolls over with updates from the undernet. Dianne checked as well. The park was already dark, and the time is currently 6:15PM according to Sans’ phone.

[3:12PM: CoolSkeleton95 posted. RIDING WITH THE PRINCESS HUMAN IN A FANCY CAR.] image posted shows that Papyrus had a selfie with Frisk, while Rance looks at the driver seat while covering his mouth as if he’s about to get sick. There were several likes and comments from StrongFish91 and ALPHYS, and the other friends.

[3:59PM: CoolSkeleton95 posted. ROYAL GUARD BEATS UP ANOTHER HUMAN.] image posted shows a crowd looking at a fallen human on the ground while Rance faces him.

-StrongFish91 comments, “NGAAAH! I WISH SOMEONE WOULD FIGHT ME ALREADY!”

[4:48PM: CoolSkeleton95 posted. JUST LOST AT THE WAREHOUSE WITH ANOTHER PAL.] image posted shows him having a selfie with several people terrified at him. There were several comments telling him that he blends in with them.

[5:13PM: CoolSkeleton95 posted. RANCE BROKE THE GAME. HUMAN GETS ASGORE DOLL AS A REWARD!] image posted shows that Rance is handing down money to the owner of the stand, while the machine was in pieces, with sparks flying. And Frisk gets her Asgore doll.

-Gerson comments, “Asgore? That doll looks like Asriel Dreemurr, the son of King Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr!”

-ALPHYS comments, “Maybe the store owner didn’t get his details right… >_<”

\- CoolSkeleton95 comments, “THE OWNER SAID THAT IT WOULD RUIN THE DOLL IF HE ADDED ASGORE’S HAIR AND CROWN!”

-StrongFish91’s comment is flagged.

[5:28PM: CoolSkeleton95 posted. OH MY GOD, STOP ROCKING THE GONDOLA!!] image posted shows that Frisk and Rance are completely terrified from below, while Papyrus’ googly eyes pop out of his sockets.

-Gerson comments, “Heck, back in my day we were forced to survive 3,000 meters up in the air as a Royal Guard requirement! Kids today are taking the luxury of…” See more.

-StrongFish91 comments, “AHAHAHA!! I’M SAVING THIS PHOTO FOR LATER!”

-CoolSkeleton95 comments, “UGH, THE HUMANS ARE OFFENDED THAT I POSTED THIS. I WILL DELETE IT LATER.”

[5:56PM: CoolSkeleton95 posted. THAT’S IT FOR NORTH CITY AMUSEMENT PIER. I HAD TONS OF FUN WITH FRISK AND RANCE!] the image posted shows Papyrus and Frisk having an ice cream selfie on a bench, while on the left side of the picture is Rance walking towards them with his ice cream.

Some of the monsters are eager to go to the pier after Papyrus shared his selfies, and photo posts. But one comment and known character bothered Sans and Dianne.

-MTTFab commented, “Who is that guy behind you, darling?”

There was blur image of a pale man behind Papyrus at the top right edge of the picture. It had a creepy smile, as well as eye cracks. The description fits the person who abducted Dianne’s friends, as well as the tenants. Later, Sans scrolled one that was the most recent.

[6:05PM: CoolSkeleton95 posted. ME AND THE ROYAL GUARD ARE ABOUT TO ENGAGE A FIGHT AGAINST A HUMAN AND A MONSTER, WHO KIDNAPPED FRISK.] this time, there were no pictures posted and most of the comments are cheering him on, as well as praying that Frisk will be alright.

                There haven’t been any updates ever since, and Dianne is worried about Frisk. It was already 6:20PM and the fight might have already been over. Dianne looks at Sans, and in a moment he understood what her worried expression tells him. There were no hassles, as the rogue gave him the coordinates in getting there. Sans hid his documents behind his jacket and took Dianne’s hand; in moments they’re already standing in front of the Pier’s entrance with people running out in panic. As soon as the two rushed inside, Frisk’s driver and guard were looking around. The driver noticed the rogue and ran towards her.

                “Ms. Vor, we need your help! Something invisible is blocking the way towards the edge of the pier!” he said in haste, while the guard is storming the invisible blockade with bullets. Only for it to halt and drop in mid-air. The nozzle of the gun was left smoking, while later he reloads and ready to waste another round. “hey, bub. you’re wasting your time. let me try.”

                He slid his hand over the barrier, and then made a Gaster Blaster appear out of nowhere. The sudden appearance of a large skeletal dragon skull shocked the two humans, as the skeleton ordered it to fire. The barrier is too strong, that even his Blaster wouldn’t do anything. In response to that, he summons up four more identically large ones and repeated the process. The brightness and intensity of the beams made the three nearby to cover their eyes, while spectators from outside shifts their attention to the blinding light at the Pier. Sans felt a weird sensation, as he was forced to dissipate his own Gaster Blasters.

                “Sans, what’s wrong?” Dianne uncovered her eyes and asked in worry. The skeleton didn’t respond to her question, as he slams both clenched hands unto the barrier. The sensation he felt was the same barrier that was used to imprison the monsters back in the Underground, and right now he couldn’t do anything to intervene. He slams it again, recalling the death of Papyrus during one timeline’s Genocide Route; and again, the image of Frisk’s soul being absorbed by the Evil flower since Toriel didn’t come to aid her in the first event. He continues to pummel through with tears falling down, recalling countless resets with different outcomes. Whether it’s real or not, he felt the pain of having a knife gouge into his eye socket.

                With one last slam, the barrier broke and the image of the pale man, who should have not existed appear before him. Sans fell on his knees, while Dianne thanks him. She would want to ask him what’s wrong, but Frisk’s life is at stake, as well as his brother. “You two! Get Sans to safety. He has our thanks…” she gives her statement before rushing along. The guard carried the dazed skeleton back into the car, and then went back into the Pier to get the princess back. Moments later, Rance was put on the middle at the back seat, while Frisk gets a handkerchief to hold off the blood. “Your Highness, we’ll get you back home safety.” The driver gives his assurance as he gets in and buckled up his seat belt in haste. The same goes for the guard.

                “Sans, are you okay? What’s going on, why is my friend like that?” Frisk asks while the two rivals are seated next to each other. “There was a barrier that prevented us from getting to you. Your skeletal friend broke it for us.” The guard answers with haste, while he gets in and points a gun outside ensuring that they’re not being pursued. “What about Papyrus? I can’t leave him behind! I’m not leaving anyone behind!” She tries to unlock the door, but the guard grabs hold of her hand. “No, princess! It’s too dangerous!” he warns her. “You two either wait for me, help me, or get these two to the hospital!”

                The two adults at front looked at one another, and gave one nod. They’ve agreed to do something that’s not what Frisk wants. They drove immediately, while the child begs them to stop. “We apologize, your highness. But we’re given direct orders to ensure your safety!” Sans was barely conscious, and hearing her beg made him snap out of his deluded nightmares. He snaps his fingers and gave Frisk a blink detour. Frisk reappeared sitting in front of the Amusement Pier’s entrance way; she looks back while in confusion until she realized that her short skeleton friend did her a favour. “Thanks, Sans.” She said to herself, before sprinting back towards the fight.

* * *

 

                Dianne arrives at the scene, pretending not to know the two. Seven, who is currently hostile gives her an awful glare, as she steps down from a lamp post. The look in his eyes are different, it’s devoid of life and reason. The rogue couldn’t believe that the pale man did something to him—to them. Giga Lionheart, the gentle yet responsible Lion monster, became savage. And Seven Gears, the patient and fun type, now dead and discorded inside. She felt like crying to herself, while memories of her and them floods in. The sound of a young boy giggle in laughter echoed through her mind, and soon she snaps with an image of the princess and her brother, bloodied by her friends.

[[Dianne Vor’s cruel anxiety emerges](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Stmp2gAk6s)]

                She blurs almost immediately, and jumps from one middle lamp post to another, chaining in her chain blade’s mechanical retractor on top, while throwing her chain blades to shackle her monster opponents. Her agility is terrifyingly faster than her brothers, while her footwork is completely quiet. Even Papyrus couldn’t detect her presence. With her intuition and wits, she went under the docks and threw some of her daggers in blocking Seven’s attempts to break the chain. But it didn’t stop there, she threw more at random places, which made the gun man’s bullet bounce back.

                Her daggers suddenly appearing out of nowhere is what made the gun man confused. He could be stabbed at any moment, and with that in mind the last dagger made the bullet ricochet towards Seven’s front thighs. He fell on his knees while dropping his gun. Inside the rogue’s mind, there’s a desperate call for help. And at the same time, it also cries out for her friend’s sake. Desperate thoughts keep crying inside her, telling her what she should do.

‘ **Somebody help him…** ’                ‘ **Forgive me…** ’                   ‘ **I just want my friend back…** ’

‘ **Give him back!** ’                               ‘ **I don’t want to hurt you!** ’                           ‘ **Please wake up!** ’

‘ **Why is this happening?** ’                             ‘ **Someone stop him!** ’                     ‘ **I’m begging you!** ’

‘ **Don’t do this…** ’                               ‘ **You’re my friend** ’                           ‘ **I-I can’t…!** ’                        

‘ **What’s wrong with you?!** ’                          ‘ **Can’t you recognize your friend?!** ’         ‘ **Are you there?** ’

‘… **He’s gone…** ’                  ‘… **He’s no longer there** …”                            ‘ **…Finish the Job…** ’

                The last one was what Seven told her, before he disappeared. Hope in her eyes were slowly disappearing, as the last thought echoed in her mind. Louder and louder it screams for her to kill. Until she picked up one last dagger from her pocket, and was ready to take her friend’s life away.

‘ **Don’t give in!** ’                  ‘ **There’s still hope!** ’                        ‘ **Just call his name!** ’

                She heard Frisk’s and Rance’s voice as her body stops moving. She struggle her hand to dig deeper, but it wouldn’t budge.

‘ **THERE’S NO NEED TO KILL SOMEONE. THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!** ’

                Papyrus’ words echoed inside her mind, along with the two. Before he took away her weapon, she just realized that she was about to kill her friend. Despair almost took over her judgment, and her friends stopped her from going the [wrong path](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Stmp2gAk6s). She could cry in relief at any moment, but with the situation at hand, the problem isn’t over yet.

* * *

 

                In the Bentley State Limousine Car, Rance regains conscious with the driver and guard arguing with Sans while they’re heading back to the Pier. To his surprise, he was sitting next to him. With his current state, he couldn’t careless whether he’s seated next to a monster or a rabid dog. In his mind, he would prefer the dog instead. He looks around and noticed that the princess isn’t there. In his current state, he could only assume that Frisk fled when she had the chance. He dialled in her sister’s number to call her. “Frisk.. _must’ve_.. ran off….without us noticing… _why is Sans here?_ ” the signal of the phone starts to static, and then later just at the middle of a road, the pale man appeared in front of them. Rance drops his phone with his sister telling him something, before the car was forcefully redirected to a brick wall.

                Time suddenly stops, and the whole area is negative. Even the car the driver is using went to a halt, but the four inside the car are still able to move freely, but everything else, including the smoke and fumes that were coming out of the hood. The whole place went negative, and for some reason Rance’s injuries went numb. Even with his wounds, it seems that he could move normally, even when blood still drips from them. Sans also stepped out of the car, along with the other two.

                The pale man who just did something went up front, and judging from its response—like a broken computer syntax error, he’s going to engage them in a fight. That’s what the three humans feel like doing. But in real time, they all disappeared… Including Sans…

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guys, how do you like the first 2-in-one chapter? I know, it might sound like it deserves to be on the main chapter, but it feels more like an extra than a main. 
> 
> Thanks to [Robert Russell](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYQtrI_4rPyTISnPzMbhZWg) for allowing me to use the song as a good attachment to King Farlon's story. Let's just hope that he makes it to the end, since he's the last family member that Frisk has.
> 
> It seems that Rance Vor, Sans, the driver and guard are put in a Silent Hill situation, while Dianne faced an inner-conflicting moment with Hope and Despair. Kudos to Danganronpa and Papyrus' unconventional kindness. 
> 
> But guess who really brought up the dark thoughts in her mind? Me? technically yes, but I'm referring to the character in the chapter. What will happen next? Will there be a resolve in the main chapter, or will there be more casualties that will bring the dream of Humans and Monsters co-existing in peace? Or better yet, will I stay Determined to follow through the next chapter? Stay tune, and don't forget to comment what you think of the story. Peace out!


	8. [Alphys and Bianca] A 3-Day Vacation Work with the Flags: Day one (piece one)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Dear Rance. Tomorrow; me, Dianne and Professor Dunkelheit will be going to the Monster Capital, in hopes that we could find something about the experimental drug called DETERMINATION with Alphys and Sans. I heard that she likes Anime, so I hope that we could get along. Oh, and don’t work too hard. I don’t want to see you in the hospital bed-written for God knows what you did. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Your sister is with us. We’ll be there by the time you read this. I love you.”_ -Bianca Mercy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, here comes the start of the random misadventures of the three-day story, with separate pieces. Not to bore you guys, but it's still part of the bigger picture. Note that there's a link somewhere that links with the story.

                9:05AM, Wednesday, at the Monster Capital. An escort car arrives at the front gate, the monster guards open the gate by sinking the concrete wall to the ground and the road towards their city opens. The border walls are twice as tall as the trees around them, and inside it’s similar to the Human Capital. The difference is that they don’t have cities with a directional name, but instead each cities are categorized by the environment and weather. Where they entered is labeled “New City”; Dianne gets the impression that Asgore doesn’t name much.

                New City is the most normal among the other cities, which gives a natural environment for both humans and monsters. Buildings are pretty standard two stories, while some plants and monsters around give a hospitable vibe. In the rogue’s eyes, the theme is similar to the Underground Monster Capital. Bianca is rather restless, looking back and forth for some reasons untold. Some monsters wave back with a smile, while some aren’t paying attention. It couldn’t be helped, after what happened yesterday.

                Just by the intersection, the traffic light gives a blue light. They didn’t stop, while the cars at the side almost went to a collision with theirs. Dianne calmly sits by the window without giving much attention to the spiraling confusion; she doesn’t even mind that the window nearly got hit with another car. Bianca and Dunkelheit at the back couldn’t mutter a word, as they nearly faced Death’s door. Undyne in her Royal Guard armor happens to pass by with MK on the scene, where five cars are in a jam and with only the humans’ vehicle in the middle of it all.

                “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE?!” she looks around with her hand above her supposed brows. She spots Dianne, looking bored while just sighing by the door. “Oh...” Undyne couldn’t comment why it happened, all while cars honk their horns furiously. It didn’t take long before Undyne herself went to the roadway, and lifted cars into an alignment. In moments later, MK and their driver are at the back with Bianca and Dunkelheit, while the Royal Guard herself drives to their destination.

                “In case you guys don’t know, orange means go and blue mean Stop.” she seems irritated. All three said in unison, “noted.” MK looks around, flabbergasted that they all said it at the same time, except for the human driver. Three minutes later, Undyne parks the car to the side, while everyone gets off. A building with only one circular window at the top part, while the door looks futuristic. The last one to come out is Dianne who was at front. She doesn’t seem like her usual self, as Undyne noticed something was off about her. “Hey, rogue-girl. What’s wrong with you?” she crosses her arms while the person she’s talking to turns to her.

                “... Oh, sorry. I just had a lot in mind...” Dianne reasons with lack of confidence. Bianca and Dunkelheit couldn’t speak for her, while their driver takes their luggage off the trunk. Bianca’s luggage was big, but Dunkelheit’s luggage is much bigger. It’s a surprise that they were able to fit in the trunk. MK is more focused on the rogue than the other two. “And what is that?” she asks with an eye peering on her actions. Dianne couldn’t help but frown back. “I’ll tell you when I feel like it.” She just gives a calm exhale before patting both her cheeks. With her arms stretch upwards and her chest pumps off, her vibe changed for the better.

                Undyne approaches the door, and rings the doorbell. After the ring, someone from the other side had called, “I-I’ll be right down.” Their luggage is out, and the driver closes the trunk. The professor moves to Dianne’s side, while he adjusts his monocle on his eye. Bianca also tries stretching, but she ends up spraining her back. The door opens, with a familiar yellow reptilian monster on her labcoat comes out.  Alphys looks around, and noticed that she has more people around. She smiles awkwardly with a stuttering greeting. “Uh-h-hi. I, mean. G-good morning!” Bianca replies back with a cheerful, yet an painful expression “Good morning to you, too—Ouch.”

                Bianca sighs again, but instead of giving a grim expression she hits the nurse’s back with a hand chop, and finger punctures. Her fast reflexes startled the monsters, while hearing nerve clicks and bone pops. Bianca falls down, but with a step forward she stops her fall. “Ahhh, that was good. Thanks, Dianne.” She sounded relieved, but everyone else felt stunned. Dunkelheit advanced to Alphys while tipping his top hat, “Good day to you, too. Doctor Alphys.” He sounds britishly formal, while the witful tone seem to have motivated the stuttering monster. “Oh my. Good day to you, too... uhm...”

                “Doctor Dunkelheit Wesson, R&D scientist, Scholar and Science enthusiast. Pardon my pupils, as our departure was too early and Dianne’s biologically related superior did not help us with the luggage.” He is referring to Rance. “Oh, I don’t really mind for the tardiness. I have just arrived here myself.” Alphys is making an impression, while Undyne can’t seem to process how foreign the professor sounds. A few minutes of exchange before they realize that they are taking too much space on the streets, as several slime monsters were heading towards them. “We better get inside. The slugs are having a marathon today, and we don’t want everyone to get slugged.” Undyne gives a fair warning.

* * *

 

                Inside the lab is not much different from Alphys’ home, but instead of a table full of envelopes, it’s full of updated books from the human capital. Her computer is very big compared to her previous one, and there are several new posters of both anime and science-related images. There’s a pod near the lounge sofas with Grillby resting inside, and a few doors which look normal compared to the entrance door. There’s also a conveyer belt that leads to the second floor. Sans comes out of one of the doors, as he look like he just woke up. Upon looking around, he noticed that Alphys’ guests are already here.

                The short skeleton looks back at the kitchen; he hasn’t cleaned up the documents just yet. With a snap of his finger, the mess disappears. He could just grin back and wave to the others, while hiding the fact that he’s reading something he shouldn’t. The building they are in is the laboratory, and at the same time it is Alphys’ house. It’s convenient for her to live in it, despite that she was officially removed as the monsters’ Royal Scientist. Her knowledge and understanding with the schematics and technological advancements is still a key trait she carries with her; it’s desperate times that the King is forced to hire her back, but not serving within the circles of the Dreemurr household.

                As soon as their stuffs were settled in, Undyne bid farewell in continuing her work in the city while the driver follows. “I will return in two days.” He gives a word, before leaving the house. Alphys, Bianca, Dianne, Dunkelheit, and Sans are left inside. “let’s get started.” The short skeleton declares with a jest. Dunkelheit opens his huge case, revealing eight smaller cases inside of it. He takes up one at the bottom right, and returns the rest. Upon getting his selected case, he opens it to reveal documents and his laptop. Underneath his laptop is a flat screen tablet which can be connected with the laptop.

                Bianca opens her case with a lot of stuffs in it. Papers, research notes, her laptop, external HDDs, and her clothing. Her personal attires are separated with her important items. Dianne’s luggage isn’t that big; it only contains 3-5 sets of clothing, some papers and pen, and 2 Avocado-brand MP3 players. It’s a surprise that she has two. Alphys prepares her previous note in making the DETERMINATION drug with one last vial as a sample. Sans could only bring himself a bottle of ketchup and takes Alphys’ paper, reading it without the scientist’s knowing.

                Everyone of them had different professions and unique way of understanding the forumal given, and several discussions were made among the female groups. Determination is never supposed to be something physical, it’s a psychological mindset but monsters don’t seem to have it. Why is that? The professor takes a look at the formula again, as he takes another case from his luggage, and prepares his science kit and instruments. He has a lot in store, and Sans happens to assist him in cleaing out the table full of books. Dunkelheit knows what he’s doing, and ensures that each sample drops are used accordingly. He’s not the Human Capital’s number 1 Scholar for nothing, and Sans could tell that he has more in store than what he has in his luggage.

* * *

 

                After hours of working, they decide to take a break. MK prepares them finger sandwiches, while Sans helps him carry a plate full. “Young lad, could you bring a teapot full of hot water? I’d like to test something.” The professor instructs; he forgot that the young monster doesn’t have any arms. It’s natural for him to forget with several equipment aligned in his assigned table. Bianca seems to notice that her instructor is onto something. Sans happen to help MK with the teapot, and was put on the side of the table. “Ah, yes. Thank you for the assistance.” He sounds nice, but at the same time it sounded too cold.

                Dunkelheit takes a packet of Jade Dragonfruit Tea powder, and pours it inside. With a stirring rod he mixes it with haste and maintenance. Not spilling one for excessive stirs, yet fast enough for the powder to dissolve and mix thoroughly. There are seven test tubes in a test tube rack, and each has two drops of the sample drug Alphys has presented. His laptop is at the left side, while the tablet screen is on the center. Sans understands what he’s attempting.

                After the tea has been prepared, he stands up from his seat and gently pours a little dose of it into the test tube. The first one had not reaction, and then he continues to pour more on the following. He stops at the fifth, and types what he finds in the reaction. The fifth one was only half full, but the color changed as well as the acidic levels. It’s like a soda fizzing. Dianne joins the observation with a tong on hold. “here, maybe i can help you with that.” Sans offers, as he uses his telekinesis to move the 6th test tube along with the teapot in a safe distance.

                Alphys and Bianca were observing carefully, as Sans pours in more than half into the test tube. The green tea mixed with a transparent drug turns red, and the test tube is violently shaking on its own. The nurse is writing number formulas while she watched, and upong the monster scientist’s glance she saw that the formula she’s writing is chemically related to the reaction. Dunkelheit receives the formula with a comment of understanding “I see”. He starts working on mixing chemicals to a beaker as fast and gentle as possible.

                He hands out the seventh test tube, as he prepares a ball. In pouring the mixed chemicals into it, Bianca helps out by sealing it with a white adhesive band. “Sans, this time you pour all of it.” Dunkelheit asks. “sure thing.” He replies in a lazy happy tone. The test tube overfills with the tea, and explodes in front of them. The test tube was destroyed along with the sixth, while the teapot starts to move on its own. “ _Herrabertrablemachkelsheizel—_ “ The teapot was reanimated into a new monster, but before it could look around, Dianne threw the ball that was prepared and it bursts like a waterballoon. It struggles to move with a terrifying screech, and before it could even turn to Alphys, it turns back into a teapot.

                “That was a nightmare fuel.” Dianne comments, all while everyone else were shock to find unwanted results. There was no response from it again; it’s back to being an inanimate object. “Noting that the tea the good doctor had subscribed to shouldn’t be taken full dosage. And the antidote upon reversal worked like a charm.” Bianca turns to Alphys, who just looked like she’s having a stroke. Her eyes are going blank while memories of the flower monster invade her mind. Sans walks up to her immediately, while the nurse is going through several course of action in stabilizing her condition. Everything the scientist sees is a blur, until it all blackens out.

* * *

 

                Time seems to have slowed down, while everything was a blur. Lying in comfort while a bedsheet covers her from bottom to waist; breathing has stablized, but the recollection brings a sharp tone in her ears. It took a moment before Alphys realized her situation. Someone was greeting her with a kind tone, “Hey.. Are ... okay no...? You were...” She sees someone handing her eyewear, and before she could wear them her sense of hearing went back to normal. “You were having chronic nightmares during broad daylight that triggers post traumatic stress disorder; it might connect to how you used the DETERMINATION drug into subjects and then...”

                The resting scientist monster covers her face in guilt as she keeps repeating, “I’m sorry.... I’m sorry....” Her voice trembles while recalling what Flowey had done to her. Bianca looks around her room for a moment, and realizes a pattern. “... Do you like anime?” Alphys turns her attention to the nurse with tears about to pour from her eyes. “W-wha?” She repeats with a smile, “Do you like anime?” Her mood is gradually recovering. “Y-yes... Why do you ask?” Bianca points her finger to her chin, while looking up.

                “Well, since Dianne, Dunkelheit and Sans are walking out to get some late lunch for us, we should play an anime game.” It’s the first time she heard of the combination ‘Anime’ and ‘Game’, and without realizing it, Bianca comes out of the room for a moment, and then comes back with her laptop. She opens her laptop; her welcome screen and desktop have anime. Highschool teens with unusual attire and an evil-looking black and white bear at the corner, a white-haired girl with pigtails and a fashion highschool attire with a short black-haired girl with guns and short military attire side-by-side, and more random wallpapers browse through every 10 seconds.

                Alphys was amazed, even the icons are small and cute. “Do you have the copy of Meow Meow Kissy Cutie?” She crawled towards the nurse. “I, uhh. Yeah, they released the HD remastered this year, but...” before she could even say more details, Alphys sqeals loud with excitement. She starts to jump on her bed like a child repetitively with repeating words, “Oh my Gosh!” The bouncing impact made the nurse slip her laptop, but she immediate duck to the floor before it collides to the surface. A loud thump made her realize that she got too carried. “Oh my gosh! Bianca, are you okay?” she lands on her feet. The nurse’s face and body lay flat on the floor, with hands up saving the laptop from breaking. The scientist immediately takes the laptop and puts it on the bed, while helping Bianca up with guilt.

                A few moments later, the scientist is putting up a bandage on the bridge of the nurse’s nose, while she had her arms crossed and a frown expression with her lips up. “For the 18th time, I’ll be okay.” She retorts back with irritation. To think that Alphys is an untamed monster when it comes to anime. She takes back the laptop and opens up one of the icons. “Before we watch that anime you suggested, we should play this.” Bianca pans the screen to Alphys, and curiosity strikes her. “Wait, what about the details in...?” Alphys remembered that they were supposed to be researching on what they found out about the DETERMINATION drug.

                “That can wait, we can resume after we eat and play.” Bianca suggests. “Well, it wouldn’t hurt to take a b-break every once in a while.” The scientist responds with an awkward smile, while Bianca gives her gleeful smile.

* * *

 

                An hour and a half later, both of them are having Cup noodles while completely focused on the game. The [white-haired guy gives his statement with everyone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRUjGAMupDw&feature=youtu.be&t=1h30m37s), “I means...well, from what I can infer, I think the rope was used like this.” The screen flashes the scenario where a gray unidentified person smiles a little while the rope is tied to a girl with piercings in a white dress, while the guy continues explaining. “The killer wrapped the rope around Ibuki’s neck, pulled both ends at full strength, and strangled her.” Alphys nods in understanding while slurping through the noodles. Bianca continues to hold the mouse while saying, “I see. So that’s what happened.”

                The discussions further with a plain-looking guy suspecting the white-haired guy about the rope, as he hints what the killer did to hide the true cause of death. Another guy in a yellow engineer suit with a beanie, sharp eyes and teeth asks. “More importantly, what was that about the rope? The killer strangled Ibuki...and then?” The white-haired guy responds with a joyful expression, “And then... I finish speaking.” Dumbfounded, the guy with a beanie hat reacts bad. Both Alphys and Bianca were also dumbfounded by the guy’s reaction. “Are you kidding me? The answer was given already!” Bianca reacts, while Alphys exclaims with her “What was that for? That IS the cause of death!”

                As soon as they stop expressing, the screen starts to spin, a message appears in the middle “Make your Argument!”, while long bullets with answers or evidence statements are loaded into what looks like a barrel. The nurse takes aim, and looks for the statement with the weakspot. As soon as the beanie hat guy gives a possible weakspot “Did we fall for **someone’s lie**?” she clicks the mouse and the answer “Rope used for Hanging” strikes the statement. The plain guy agrees with him while a word on vertical “consent”

                Bianca cheers “Wooh, we’re on a roll sister!” before high-fiving with Alphys. “Yeah, both of you ARE on a roll.” Dianne spoke and appeared behind them with a sharp-like knife glares at them. The scene shatters like a mirror, and the word “BREAK!!!” appears in the middle. Both of them are on shock to see the rogue looking at them in disappointment. “I thought you were taking care of Alphys. I didn’t expect both of you to play...” Both of them looked guilty at first, until Dianne grabs a chair and sits beside the scientist. “without me.” From shock to flabbergasted, Dianne joins the game.

* * *

 

                They finally solved the whole case, and with that it leaves questionable responses. Alphys points out “What is that?” It didn’t take long before the penalty game initiates on the suspect. “Oh my god.” The killer got sent to the sky with a fake arm for a rocket. It was an unusual penalty, but after that “What happens to her?” Bianca shook her head at the scientist. It was no mistaking it, the killer was executed. They saved the game, and then closed it. “That was... messed up...” Alphys just swallowed the whole scenario, and fazed a little. But instead, she just hopes that the next one isn't that brutal. It didn’t take long before Dunkelheit and Sans entered the laboratory. MK is missing; he must have gone home already, while Papyrus follows up with the usual vibe. “GREETINGS, HUMANS. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE HELPING YOU WITH YOUR...” The professor cuts in, “We’ll need you to sit down now. We also brought finger sandwiches.” He carries a plastic full of sandwiches, while Sans pats his brother’s back, “don’t worry, pap. this will only take a tooth long.”

                The research continues, with Sans’ brother as their subject. “I’ll lend you a copy later, okay Alphys?” Bianca gives a cheerful expression. “O-okay...” Papyrus was asked to sit down in a chair, while Bianca checks on his vitals. As ridiculous as it is for them to check that to a skeleton, they’re receiving weird responses. Alphys brought an X-Ray out of one of the rooms to examine Papyrus again. The screen shows that he has an Orange heart, while his frame seems to glow in slight orange. Sans comments, “pap, i never expected you to be this orange.” He pulls out an orange fruit from his sleeve and shows it to the tall skeleton. “OH MY GOD, SANS!!!” the screen shows less orange glow from his skeletal body.

                Dunkelheit continues to take down notes, while Dianne watches out from the window. “by the way, why is dianne with us?” Sans wants to ask out of curiosity. “Dianne here is our bodyguard and also one of my students. She’s logging the events while we work for both Kings, and her keen observation makes her a vital witness to our studies. She would inquire us if something goes out of place.” The professor suggest.

                “Well, for Papyrus case, he seems to have obtained a HUMAN SOUL trait. Normally, our souls are just plain white, but it is unnatural for his to align with your traits.” Alphys gives her statement. “Speaking of which, why did you create the DETERMINATION drug?” Bianca asks. “I didn’t fully create it, I based some of the formulas from the **leftover** notes I found in the TRUE LAB.” She goes back to one room, and comes back with several notes in creating the drug. Dunkelheit takes them as he starts reading. “Alphys, for starters **Determination** is a psychological mindset wherein someone is determined to do something they are willing to pursue. Like for example: I am determined to finish  that game, even when it will take me some time to finish it.”

                “Bianca, unlike humans, monsters don’t have that trait. We’re made of magic with fundamental traits that differs from yours. That is...” Alphys stops for a moment. “Wait... I think I get it!” She takes up a note and starts to illustrate the problem. Everyone else seem to be confused, while she shook her head and tore the paper. Instead, the scientist grabs a video tape and inserts it to the big screen computer, and replayed the videos of Frisk’s intervention at the UNDERGROUND. “Humans and Monsters were separated for a long time to begin with, which is why we never had and understood those traits. But because now that we are communicating with one another, we are startig to adapt the HUMAN SOUL traits!”

                A scene where Papyrus was fighting Frisk shows, evasion and action is what the child did with the tall skeleton, until he gives up trying to catch her. What’s odd about the video is that Frisk didn’t actually fight him. She just did some social interactions and evaded his attacks. Dianne suddenly asks “Can you pause for a moment?” Alphys did so and turns her attention to the rogue. “Is there something on the video?” Bianca notices it, too. But her eyes were on Alphys. “Frisk is known to be a kind, yet an intuitive child. She knows what to do in a situation, and follows through it. But this...”

                The paused video shows a different scenario. Frisk knows what she’s doing, especially when facing the unknown. There are more video footage she had taken that were yet to reveal what the child could really do. “Alphys, your chest... It’s glowing.” Bianca stares at her, while the scientist just realized that she obtained something out of nowhere. She felt something is fueling her to stand up more, even in front of the people she just met. A violet energy envelopes her body.

[Alphys has gained a Human SOUL trait - **Perseverance** ]

                Papyrus and Sans are there to see something that is unnatural. “i thought miracles are out of the blue, not violet.” The short skeleton gives a comment with a usual jest and grin, but inside his head he felt something wasn’t right. He looks back to his irritated brother while he screams ‘WHY MUST YOU MAKE PUNS?’ If all they needed to do is to befriend and have connections with the humans, then should that resolve the barrier issue instead of taking their SOULs? His head is full of questions, while he just grins back with a chuckle. Alphys, Bianca, and Dunkelheit continues with the discussion, while Dianne asks Sans to come outside with her. “meh, why not? hey pap, we’ll be right outside. just give us an orange when you need me.”

* * *

 

                Just outside the laboratory, the night already settled in as Doggo howls from the other side of the block. “I can’t see anything at all!” he said, while smoking dog treats. Dianne and Sans are having a stroll around the block. “Hey, Sans. You look like you’re overthinking things.” Dianne suggests while she looks up to the stars shining brightly. “welp, i’m just having a headache.” The rogue giggles from that joke, “I see. Maybe I’m just having a hearache today.” Her cheery tone bears a heavy feeling. “Originally, my brother would be here only for the night, but he’s been put on a mission. You’re glad that he’s not around, are you?”

                Sans shrugs it off with relief. “glad he’s not around. he might have make a mess if he’s around.” Dianne shook her head in disagreement. “If he is, then both of you will hinder the research study. Dunkelheit already formulated a chemical bomb in killing that flower monster, and Alphys seems to have had a revelation concerning your kind’s adaptive changes.” She gives a questionable statement. “listen, kid. as determined you guys are, you don’t really know what you are going to face. dealt with that weed longer than you could say, but it keeps coming back regardless.” Sans gives his fair share of warning, but the rogue disagrees. “Not unless we take its core down instead of cutting it to smaller pieces.”

                They sat by the streets while few monsters walk by them. The city lamps are doing a great job illuminating the streets with sufficient lights. “I don’t really know why you have those documents with you, but please return them when you are done with them.” What she just said made Sans’ spine shiver in fear. “i don’t know what you’re talking about.” He feigns in ignorance without looking back. “If it’s about my brother, you can drop the act. He’s doing his best to change for the better, and I don’t want him to **turn back into the person he once was**. Please, don’t ruin it for everyone.” She just looks forward.

                What does she mean when she said “don’t ruin it for everyone”? Sans shouldn’t care about that, but the thought bothers him. The rogue stand up, “Well, let’s get back to the lab. They might be worried about our absence.” She stands up without a care, and offers a hand to the skeleton. The moment he takes the offer, she pulls him up from the streets. “heh, sure kid. by the way, i know a shortcut.”

-To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here with a funny news. This is going to be around 10 pieces of the story, maybe less. There will be a lot of involvements, and character intervention. I kind of started off with Alphys since she's the least mentioned. Anyone would want to know what happened to her, right? As for the link given, yes. They're playing **Super Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair**. Next one is either Frisk, Seven, Rance, Undyne, Gerson, Asriel, King Farlon, or Darvenshel. Comment your pick if you like while I have 2 days of vacant days of writing.
> 
> As for the HUMAN SOUL trait, it would make sense that they will begin to learn that they can achieve those traits by communicating with the humans themselves. More explanation in future chapters. Be sure to leave a comment of what you think of the story.


	9. [Seven and Rance/King Farlon and Frisk] A 3-Day Vacation Work with the Flags: Day one (piece two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“It’s been 11 years since I last saw my parents… I decided to look for them with Giga, but so far there were no signs. I miss them. I want to see them, one last time. ”_ – Seven Gears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here apologizing for the serious delay. I'm not dead yet, and I don't think that I would stop in writing this story. It's still a long way to go, with my current pace. But here we are with a new chapter! We are done with Alphys and Bianca, so this time, it's all about Rance and Seven, along with Frisk and King Farlon.

7:00AM, Wednesday. At the North City Royal Guard HQ, a female clerk with glasses in formal uniform arrives at the front door of the building with keys at hand. It took a while, but after unlocking she enters a room that has access to the counter. The entrance hall shows similarities to a Police Station, with benches lined for wait, and three window counters at front. There are other pathways to the left and right, plants and water dispensers. Clock at the middle counter, and paper forms ready at the side. The difference is that they process third level-tier crimes while instead of civilians filling the forms, it would be the policemen or civilians with rights to escalate their problems to higher authorities.

                The process in the forms are involve missing persons who cannot be found by police intervention, price rates sudden increase, murderers or convicts on loose, or even terrorist threats are processed. Prank forms are enlisted, with people committing them put under detention; and lastly, the Royal Guard will evaluate the forms in a matter of clear judgment. Their decisions will create a tidal wave of impact if a request form is mishandled through emotional judgment or favoritism. In North’s case, even with favors he cannot simply let debts affect his workload. That is something from a 20-year old warrior.

                While the clerk is turning on all possible lights, monitors, and even double-checking the rooms if they are in order, she encounters Rance in his armor. He is currently sleeping on his table with the right side filled with sorted papers. If she recalled correctly, the workload he had was a mountain pile, almost enough to reach the ceiling. Now she sees all of them are signed, revised, and marked for further action. From her point of view, she is most likely impressed that it only took him less than 20 hours to process all of that; but at the same time was worried, since judging from his position of his head facing his papers, he must have just finished signing and sorting.

                A slight sigh is what she could only do, and from her position, she doesn’t have any right to scold him for processing it overnight. What strikes it odd was that the lights were never on as he worked on it. Instead of overthinking things, she went to the HQ’s kitchen and prepares a cup of coffee. As soon as she finished preparing one, she puts it on his table. The clerk wants to have a moment and stare at how her young boss sleeps, but she needs to work on the papers he signed.

* * *

 

                9:00AM at the North Royal Guard HQ, a familiar man with spiky jet black hair arrives with escort guards assisting him to the building. With the trickshooter’s capability, he is under detain. No chains were attached to him, but the pressure his escorts give him the feeling that getting away is punishable by death. All he could do is sigh. ‘How did I even end up in this situation?’ he could say in his thoughts. Even when Dianne explained to him what happened, he couldn’t believe it.

                They enter the building, and from his perspectives it’s like another form of Police station under a different name; it’s just like a guild for bounty hunters where they take up the approved requests at the right side of the counter while police officers and very few civilians are lined at the left side. More guards exit and enter the building to report their findings, as well as some go to the right hallway to attend to their needs. ‘Why are guards established, and how are they different from police officers? They’re both authorize to maintain peace and uphold order. It doesn’t make sense.’ They continue to the left hallway, went to the right, and lastly another right. It’s a big two-story building, but stairs or elevators are yet to be seen.

                Halfway of the length, the guards stop. To their left is an office that can be see-through due to the wide transparent glass windows and opened blinds. Seven can see the Northern Royal Guard focused on very little paperwork, as he sips his coffee. Normally, guards put away their helmets when they are going to read something, but Rance prefers to read with his helmet on. It’s his first time meeting Dianne’s brother, but it seems that he has met him before. One of the guards knocked at the door, and with a hand sign from their superior, they come in.

                There were several thoughts running around Seven’s head, and most of them are the signs of danger. Without realizing it, the guards have already exited the room, with him standing in front of the desk. “Please, sit.” North’s tone suggests comfort. Two chairs are at each front end of the desk, with them facing one another. He takes the left chair and sits down keeping his guard down.

                Rance continues to read a paper in his hand, while the gunman waits for a response. A few seconds of awkward silence, which is uncomfortable for Seven. More time has passed, and that’s when the warrior puts down the paper he had to take a look at the other. “So, we meet again.” Rance suggest with assurance that he and the other have met. “I, no. I don’t think we have met before.” Seven replies wholeheartedly while his tone of voice gives a nervous feeling. “At ease, gunman. I’m not here to chew you up for something you might not remember. Although I remember you and your lion friend kidnapping the princess for no explanation.”

                A thought comes in mind, but just when Seven was about to speak, Rance continues. “That may or may not be your handiwork, but you two made in contact with the abductor, and returned under its influence. That aside, you’ll need to fill up this form, and don’t make any false credentials.” He takes up a form and hands it to the trickshooter, while handing him a pen. Gears can’t seem to catch up with his reasoning, and was left no choice but to fill up the form. He just went with the flow and filled up all the details he could answer. After he finished that, he gives both the pen and the paper to North.

                The Royal Guard reads the paper form for a while, and nods with interest. He places it on the side, opens up the same drawer where he took the form, and hands in another one. “Okay, here’s another form. And this time, you write your real name.” Seven looks back with a confused look. “What? But, that’s my name. Seven Gears.” He points to the form he just filled up. “Yes, and your father is a monster. That does make sense.” Rance snaps back with an obvious remark. “I-I…” Seven couldn’t respond back as he starts to sense a dangerous aura from the warrior, and gave up before he wastes anymore time. He couldn’t tell the Royal Guard’s expression, since he’s wearing a helmet.

                He writes the form again, but this time, North noticed a different stroke in the name section. Seven fills up the rest of the information section with different strokes as well; the warrior can tell that he’s writing his real credentials. He fidgets when he writes, showing second thoughts whether he should write his parents’ names. Rance coughs once, and gives a number of finger taps on the table. Seen continues to hesitate, and with a sigh, he asks the trickshooter to just submit without writing it.

                After he receives the paper with a different credential, he ponders. “So this is your real name… Does my sister know about this?” He asks. “Yes. But I told her to keep it a secret for me.” The other replies. “Well, if that’s the case. I will have this archived. In the meantime,” He places the written paper with his real name inside the drawer, underneath the papers covered.  “Since it looks like you don’t want your real name to be put on public records, we’ll go with your current alias. And because my sister did **not inform** me of this, I trust that it is a grave reason for you not to have it called out.”

                ‘ **not inform** ’ there was an edge on his tone.  Rance stands up from his chair, and walks up to the door. “Well, let’s get going.” Seven looks confused “To where?” the warrior shrugs without a word, and exits the room with the doorway open, and his hand on the edge of the door. “You’ll see…” There was a slight mischievous and playful tone in his words. Recalling what Dianne has said after King Farlon’s proposal, he can’t seem to grasp the whole situation.

“ _You will be put in an open trial with my brother. You need to abide what he needs you to do. And whatever you do, do not give him an ounce of suspicion. He’ll be using a black halberd while the trial is ongoing. If you fail, he will **kill you**._ ”

* * *

 

                10:05AM, at the apartment where Seven lives. The two comes out of the police car, with a police officer joining them in the investigation. “Thanks for the ride, officer.” Rance gives a rather warm, yet strict tone. He exits with a retractable black halberd sheathed behind him. It looks more like a black butcher knife than a spear weapon, thanks to its retractable features. Another vehicle in black arrives with four more offices coming out of it. Seven looks around, and noticed a giant hole on the 2nd floor wall, where the window was supposed to be. “Where’d that hole come from?!” he reacts; there’s also a hole on the other house as it extends up to the other behind it. “For now, you should tell me what happened in detail. How all of the tenants were abducted?” Rance instructs as they continue inside.

                The rest began investigating, while the warrior makes his way to the 2nd floor. Broken vases, a black scorch mark, and a large hole. As they look around, Seven is left to tell his story. It was all too sudden, there weren’t any details, and the other key witness to it is his brother, Dianne. The rogue has already given her report about it, but because Seven is another witness, Rance had to listen if ever a contradiction would appear. The trickshooter had said similar details, but there are some that are different.

“I wasn’t sure what was happening. My vision was going negative, and my limbs were confused. I lost control of my body, and then it all went dark…next thing I know, I was inside a jail cell, with my legs bandaged…” Seven said. Thoughts of doubts overflow him, as if time had stopped when he went unconscious. Instead of worrying the details, Rance comes back with a photo in his hand. A picture of the gunman, the lionman, and a blonde girl partying in the apartment.

“I’m guessing that you’re not contented with one girl, are you?” the warrior asks sarcastically while showing the picture to Seven. “What? That’s not what it looks like!” He tries to reason, but it doesn’t look like North will tolerate something like that. “Is my sister aware of this…?” He flips the picture back to him, as he takes a closer look. “Hmmmm… I’ll take this with me, just in case.” He puts it in his back pocket, and turns back. “What? You can’t just take my stuff—“ he almost forgot what situation it is, as the warrior looks back. “What was that?” Rance asks him neutrally. Seven pushes the thought away, nervously. “Oh, never mind.”

* * *

 

At the household, Frisk and her father are at the dining room having lunch. Morning wasn’t much of an event for them; she’s been studying in her room without anyone’s help. She even wanted her breakfast to be delivered to her room. But now, her father has a chance to have a normal conversation with her. “Frisk… You have been studying in your room ever since last night. Are you alright?” he asks, while the maid delivers an ice cream bowl to her side. “I’m fine. I was just catching up with the assignments Sans gave me.” She answers. After the Gaster incident, the King has put up a strict security around them.

While they eat, most of the guards around them are on patrol. All of the other guards in the capital are given commands to notify their superiors when one person is making an unusual character. The king noticed something was off with Frisk, and so he asks. “Frisk, do you still remember your mother’s birthday?” It was out of character for him to ask something ridiculous. His daughter looks at him confused. “Huh?” She thinks for a moment, and then realizes that… “It’s today.”

King Farlon is glad that she remembers. “We will be going out today, and buy your mother some flowers.” Frisk looks away; she is reluctant in replying back to her father after what happened. Instead, she just nodded and took a bite out of her dessert. It’s not a day to be happy about for both of them. They left the castle in the usual Bentley State, but with two guards with Frisk at the back, ensuring that she doesn’t run away.

As they pass by at the West City, traffic has increased due to one of the four wide roadways being repaired. A lot of people are taking alternative routes to where they need to be, but regardless it’s not too heavy of a traffic. People are still giving the friendly vibes, regardless of what just happened. To a florist shop they visited, King Farlon gives a warm greeting to the girl at the counter, while Frisk looks around to see what flowers they could buy. With guards looking after her, and a new driver in wait outside, she cannot go anywhere. The shop does have a back door, but there are people there arranging flowers before putting them to display.

As soon as she reached the Buttercup section of flowers, she tilts back while holding her head. Her eyes were starting to daze, all while the guards suddenly supported her from the back. “Your highness, are you alright?” One with fine voice had asked, the other helps her by the shoulders. “Princess Frisk, you must not walk alone while we assist you and your father with your needs.” They are showing how much concerned they are to her wellbeing. “Thanks. I think I’ll be fine…” she commends them with a half-smile.

They went to the counter, as one of the florist prepared a bouquet of flowers. The king has given his thanks while asking everyone to go back in the car. The flowers he bought were something to behold; its petals are silver mixed with crimson blossoms. They look fake flowers due to its glossiness, but when Frisk touched a petal, it made her feel remorse. “It seems that you have yet encountered these types of flowers. They are called ‘Pearlescent Farewells’.” Frisk asks curiously, “What do they mean?”

King Farlon took a deep breath at first, before answering her question. “These flowers mean eternal love and gratitude, for those who are yearning to renew themselves.” The driver starts the car, as they start to drive to **South City Cemetery**. King Farlon clutched the bottom part of the bouquet, and then asks his daughter. “Frisk, did you know that this type of flower was  the first ever to bloom, when I met your mother?” Frisk looks at her father, surprised that such a thing occurred. “Your mother and I, have loved one another, more than how many could express in words….” Frisk imagines Asgore and Toriel in their situation, “that we were able to make the country as brilliant and fair as it is now. Even when the people had become sad through tragedies, we were able to lead them to a better path. Just like your bodyguard, Rance Vor.”

They drive to a tunnel that leads to the darker grey of the four cities in the Human Capital. The South City, were the atmosphere is not as welcoming as the North and West. “Through our love, we made no mistakes in fair judgment. But after the clash with the Corvus, we were on the brink of war. And to stop that…” Frisk cuts him off with an answer, “I’m going to marry a prince from Corvus…” While the car travels to the cemetery, Frisk spotted something in one of the stores. “Father?” she asks, King Farlon asks the driver to park by the store she was eyeing.

A toy metal works shop, supposedly a toy store which is coldly durable in steel. She saw a hobby horse that is painted in wood, but due to the gloss of its painting, it sparkles. Frisk is not always the type of child who is interested in dolls and such, excluding the one her mother gave her. She felt like she would want one. They exited the car, and entered the shop. There were many toys ranging from action figures, vehicle figurines, and even weaponry. Although toy weapons are designed blunt, so that children wouldn’t be able to hurt themselves with it, they are also expensive enough to lead parents into not buying them.

The metal hobby horse is what Frisk wants, while the store owner, the king, and the guards are confused with her preference. Why does she want one? The old owner comments “This hobby horse is purely made of titanium and steel but also as light as a thick book; children in South City can’t break it, while at the same time it can break weak walls.” Frisk wondered why such a toy store exists. “Do you want it?” King Farlon asks. The child nods calmly; the owner takes it off the shelf and lends it to Frisk. She holds it in a guard position.

A black cat comes out of the door near the counter, and jumps on the shelf with metallic nutcracker soldiers. It purrs while doing a catwalk on their heads. The springs in their mouth dismounts like bullets fired from a gun towards the old owner. Frisk immediately rushes in and guards according to where it will hit. The guards took out their plates and blocked some of the projectiles, while the rest were blocked successfully by the child.

One more nutcracker soldier that is about to be stepped on by the black cat, while Frisk readies her toy weapon. In the midst of it almost landing its paw unto the head, the cat flees away while the nutcracker soldier, along with the shelf was cut into three. King Farlon’s rapier was drawn out as it points down to the floor. In the end, Frisk’s father only pays half of the Metal Hobby Horse’s price, while the owner was given a strict warning to fix some of his toys.

* * *

 

In the afternoon, Rance and Seven were walking to the northern part of the city. The trickshooter was left confused with what they just did throughout the day. “So, after investigating what happened to the apartment where I live, you invited me to a coffee shop during lunch time, went back to the HQ and submitted papers, went to go get some groceries for some people who can’t afford to eat, and lastly visited the West City’s damaged road way.” Seven summarizes as they walk. The warrior responds without looking at the person he’s with, “Is there a problem with what we just did?”

Seven continues while he itches his head with both hands. “Is this even a trial? All I’m doing is tagging along with someone who’s like…doing nothing but normal things a detective would do.” He retorts in panic. “You don’t really see what I’m **actually doing**. Well, I’ll explain.” They just went past a  familiar arc. “Other than verifying the suspicious activities that happened to your abode, we were more on duty around us. For example.” They took a right; Seven is too focused on Rance.

“We were at the coffee shop not to have a normal lunch. We were actually there to recharge. The store I took you is where you can buy foods and drinks that can actually recover your strength after a long day. In truth, I needed to be awake while you are with me.” There was a sign that says ‘under construction’ up ahead, but the warrior gestures that they need to continue. The wooden floorboards have holes, yet they continue. The trickshooter is assuming that he’s being lead there on purpose.

“Second, we didn’t just help the needy get what they need to live throughout the week, we went to that specific grocery store because there is an escalated report that the taxes were raised for some products. Upon our investigation, it was proven that it was illegally raised.” He pause for a moment, while taking out his papers underneath his chestplate armor attachment. “Other than double checking the road way incident, we’re just about done with this afternoon’s job.” Rance flips over a number, while taking out a pen on his sidepocket.

“Wait, so we’ve been doing **actual** **duties** this whole time?” Seven was flabbergasted, while the warrior continues to write something on his report. “Yep. The funny thing is that you’re not even aware of it. Regardless of how small it looks like when we do these things, we’re also there to ensure the  order of the city that is assigned to us.” He turns his head to Seven who looks like he’s been played for a fool. “Well then…” The warrior takes out a familiar silver revolver, and gives it to the gunman. The other looked shock; it’s his silver gun he had with him once.

He checks if it was tinkered, and noticed that its bullets were taken out. “You have your other gun with you?” Rance asks, as he swings his black retractable blade. It extends to a spear-length halberd, as he steps back. He’s replaying the same [ **FIGHT** ] scenario from one night ago. But this time, he’s not using a rubber mallet, and there are two less people in the fight. Seven had a feeling that he’s going to fight for his life, but what will Dianne say if he kills him, or the other way around?

Seven’s stuff were returned to him before he was put into the current situation. Now he can fight with both guns in his hand. He threw one gun up, while opening the other. With his portable bullet dispenser packets on his side he drew 7 bullets, and whips his hand to lock in his ammunition to the gun. After loading the first gun, he locks it and threw it to the air. It was the same routine, until both revolvers are loaded.

Each of the revolver he has are .55 caliber, and can pack a punch worse than a boxer’s. But because the warrior is carrying an actual black steel weapon, he should have a better chance of deflecting them. Seven fires the bronze revolver to the lamp post; it’s the same method he used before. He fires his silver revolver towards the warrior, but with a single swing it was deflected. The bullet from the silver gun clashed with the bullet from the bronze gun, creating an even more complicated rebound effect.

One bullet was about to hit Rance to the elbow, but he took a step forward and avoided the attack. The bullet punctures the floor boards rather than it bounces away. “It looks like you’re tougher than you look.” Seven gives a taunting smirk, while Rance replied. “And I thought you’re complicated enough.” The gunman fires three rounds from each gun, and the whole wooden pier trembles violently.

Rance spins off his black halberd at a mid-speed pace, and with a grip in each turn all the bullets were redirected towards the trickshooter. Seven fires another three rounds, only to force himself to deflect all of the incoming bullets. They were shot at specific spots, which forced the other bullets to hit the other lamp posts, and continue its chain. Rance clicks his tongue. Not only was he able to resume the ricocheting bullets’ flow, but each of them are bouncing in a pattern, wherein it protects the gunman from harm. If he relentlessly advance, then he would be dealing approximately 5 bullets from different angles.

“Hey Seven, have you consider protecting yourself from **outside the coverage?** ” Rance’s eyes glimmered in crimson red from his helmet. He’s [ **Determined** ] to beat the gunman. Seven felt a sudden pressure all over his body, as if his instincts are screaming ‘Danger’ on all sides. With a single step, he blurs away with the floorboards exploding to the air. Water torrents around him, while he looks around. The warrior is not visible through the naked eye, yet each step he makes creates a violent water torrent. It’s circulating around him, and in his position, not even his rebounding bullets could protect him.

Seven closes his eyes for a moment as he reloads, and took a breather before opening them. The splash of water are hitting him hard, but he continues to wait. When one torrent sounded different from the rest, even the slightest nod, he opened his eyes with his iris glowing in light blue. Seven used his [ **Patience** ] to counter the violent warrior’s confusing torrents, and shot on both sides. The water spouts have stopped, while the black halberd Rance had spins up to the air. It didn’t take long before the spear weapon sunk down to the waters.

The trickshooter looks around his area, looking for Rance. Without warning, he was patted on the back with a hand smack by the warrior. “Hahaha! You’re a keeper, alright!” Seven turns around and jumps back in shock, due to Rance appearing out of nowhere. In his act to evade the warrior, he forgot that he’s on the edge part of the wooden board. In the midst of falling down, the warrior immediately blurs out, and a water spout forced him back into balance.

The sun was setting, and both of them sit on the edge of the pier. “So, you’re not going to execute me?” Seven asks curiously, while turning his head to the warrior. Rance took off his helmet and puts it to the side. “If you are worth executing, then I wouldn’t have **held back**.” There was a sigh of relief; he passed the trial, but still, the gunman looks down on the waters. Something bothers him. “Now that aside, could you tell me why you want to  join my ranks?” Rance asks him with a curious look at Seven. “Other than helping Dianne with her work, as well as yours. I want to find my parents…” It didn’t take long before Seven told him his story for being in the Human Capital, as they traverse back to the HQ.

[[song link starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxnektO5MSg)] _When I was 7, we went to Corvus. They were grieving, but whenever I look they smile back to hide what they really feel. I don’t know why they were sad, until they left me at an orphanage. They told me to wait for them, and so I did. The orphanage’s caretaker took me in as I wait. A year later, I began to fall on the depths of despair, until my birthday had come. I was never happy with anything anymore, until my 9 th birthday had arrived. It was midnight, and unfortunately, Christmas Eve. I took a knife from the kitchen and went out to the bench table, where my parents had told me to wait. _

_I understood that they don’t want me anymore, and so I was going to commit suicide. But then, one burly lioman in his traditional wear grips my hand, forcing me to let go of the knife. He told me to never take It away, because I only have one shot in living. He convinced me to live, and soon, he became my friend. Every day, he visits me and comforts me. Even in rainy days, he entered the orphanage and gives me the time of my life. He even sings in Japanese; I never understood what he sings, but it soothes me. Until one day, he adopted me._

_He waited with me, and until then he started tutoring me about the basic things that were taught in Elementary. He also gave me these guns, because he saw that I’m accurate with what I throw. Five years had passed, and I only called him ‘Lion’. I asked him his name, and then he told me that his name was ‘Giga Lionheart’. Time had passed, and as much as I was happy with my friend, I felt incomplete. I remembered that my parents told me to wait for them, but they never came. I had an idea: I should go back here and look for them. He supported me, even though it was a stupid idea._

_Few months later, we’ve stowed away in one of the passing ships and ended up here. Life was rough, until you became the new Royal Guard. And then, a lot of things had happened, and here we are._

Seven waits on a seat, while Rance had the clerk process the papers. It didn’t take long before the warrior walks up to the gunman and asks him to follow him one last time. To his surprise, Rance was looking grim, and Seven had a bad feeling about it.

* * *

 

At the cemetery, King Farlon and Frisk laid low to a large tombstone with the name, “Falma …” the last name was worn out, but knowing where the two once stood where her mother was laid to rest was enough. The king placed the bouquet of flowers on the stone, standing in place. While Frisk leans back on it. “Mother, it’s been a while since me and father have visited you… I miss you mom…” her voice trembles while tears overflow from her eyes. “I wish you were here… I want to see you and dad to be together, again…” The moment went silent at first, and then she cries out loud. King Farlon could only glance at the tombstone with a shed of tear. But from his worn out expression, he had prayed that his wife is looking after her daughter.

It didn’t take long before Rance and Seven had entered the cemetery with the same police vehicle they rode in this morning. “What are we doing here?” Seven asks, while Rance is reading a document in his folder. He didn’t spoke, he just walked forward without saying a word. The gunman is becoming more worried for where he’s going. They went deeper in the cemetery, until suddenly the warrior looked to the side. There were slabs with names familiar to Seven. “Maria Guerella” and “Rubredo Guerella” were written, and to the gunman’s glance, he fell on his knees in disbelief.

“Seven Gears, or should I say, Santos Guerella. I’m sorry…” Rance looks down, as the gunman starts to tremble. “Your parents were known as the famous pair in Baseball. Maria who scored 28 homeruns in the big leagues, while your father, Rubredo, was famous for his ricocheting maneuver. A fastball that leads to an instant out.” He walks to Seven and bends down to pat his back in comfort. “They were killed by the notorious mob boss 4 years ago, for them refusing to switch to a corrupt baseball team. They might have known the consequences, and had you fled to Corvus. For your sake” The gunman continues to cry out loud. 11 years did he wait and look for his parents, only to find them 6 feet under.

“I will return for you in a moment.” Rance states, leaving the trickshooter to mourn for his loss. He went to look around, until he found the slabs he was looking for. He stood in front of them quietly, without moving an inch. He just looks down and stares at them quietly. A memory surges back to him, with his hands holding on a pitchfork, covered in dust. He shook that memory away, and went back to see Seven. Upon his return, he saw him standing up as he wipes away his tears. The warrior pats his back in comfort as he tries to smile for the gunman's sake. "If you're done... Let's get back." [[song link ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxnektO5MSg)]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a tragedy for Seven Gears. By the way, he prefers his current alias than his old name, Santos Guerella. #feels for #seedoffloweyextra is rather strong. But I won't complain if you didn't feel anything in this story. Oh, and I decided to put the [song link starts here] and[song link ends here] because some of you don't know if there were actual links included on the story. I'll edit the rest when I have the time.
> 
> I'll be working on the next story as soon as I get some rest. I'm rather feeling restless for some days. Also, The song is intended for both Rance and Seven.
> 
> [UPDATE] Due to the song link going private, I added the alternative link for you to listen to.


	10. [Asriel Dreemurr / Giga Lionheart]A 3-Day Vacation Work with the Flags: Day one (piece three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“I was born and lived somewhere far from here, only to go on a journey to find my friends who disappeared- taken from me. But as I travel, I found someone who is as special as my friend…he can never replace him, but he is what keeps me going. I wish that, I never picked up that Red Magic Lily.”_ –Giga Lionheart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here with another extra piece of Seed of Flowey. I thank everyone who supported me in writing this story, even though it's rather long and filled with OCs. But even so, I wouldn't stray so far from the planned next chapters. It still involves the UT and the OC character development, and more to come. But so far, I'm writing the extras for a good reason.

                 At the Monster Capital Dreemurr’s castle, around 6AM just when the sun is about to shine. Asgore and Toriel decided to sleep in one king size bed, with their son, Asriel in the middle. Just as the light shines from the open window, Toriel lays at the right side of the bed, tries to hug her son, who is buried underneath the bed sheets in between them. While doing so, she felt horns not as long as Asgore’s. “Uhn… Asgore, have you cut your hair, and your horns?” she groggily asks. Asgore, who was at the far left side of the bed felt a somewhat shorter snout, with also horns not as short as Toriel. “Mmmm….” The monster king stretches up, thinking that his ex-wife finally grew longer horns. With a hand to cover his mouth as he yawns, his vision is starting to focus.

                “Tori, did you grow your horns?” it was a stupid question. Monsters don’t normally grow horns as fast as a few hours. Normally, it takes about more than half a year before they grow as long as the monster king’s. Toriel sits up, looking at Asgore. It took them a moment to realize, that Asriel was supposed to be in the middle. Both of them were like in a comedy show, where their eyes widen, mouths drop into frown in shock, and later look at the one who was covered on their bedsheet. With a pull of the sheet reveals someone else entirely.

                There lies an adolescent goat monster, wearing the robes similar to Toriel’s while his sweet gentle smile is ruined by his current appearance. His fangs and horns are long, while its muzzle had grown. What differs him is that he has black sideburns and black sclera. His hands are almost like claws, while his fangs can be seen. This is Asriel in his Hyperdeath form sleeping in peace, but his parents are not aware that he IS Asriel. At a distant part of the monster capital, Burgerpants comes out of his home all groggy and irritated at the sun. Everyone else are coming out of their houses, until all of them looked at the distant castle due to Asgore and Toriel’s loud and intensive screaming.

                Asriel sits up in panic, “Wait, what, where?!” He looks both sideways when he said that with a mature tone. Asgore looks aggressively angry, with his shoulders down and his red trident presented. Toriel looks shock as she looks around. “… Asriel?” she suddenly asks. The adolescent goat monster stretches up with a yawn, bearing fangs. With small blinks and a rub on his eye, he carelessly says. “Howdy, mom, dad. Good morning…?” His mind is starting to work as it should, noticing the danger presented to him. He suddenly looks worried. “Is there something on my face?” It took him a second before he realizes that his voice is more mature.

                “Oh, golly… Sorry mom, dad.” Both of their eyes widen, as their transformed son stands up from the bed, and flames engulf him fully. Before they could process what just happened, Asriel reverts back to his child form. “I didn’t know that I transformed. Sorry about that, mom, dad.” Asgore furrows his brows for a moment, as he looks at Toriel. They both couldn’t swallow what they just saw. Morning started awkwardly for the Dreemurrs.

* * *

 

                Morning at the New City, the sound of a couple screaming awoke the three monsters in a cell, that has a barracks theme but the beds are comfortable. It only ruins the comfort when the inmates are asked to wake up and get working. Because the Monster Capital was newly established, with rarely any monsters committing any crimes, their punishment isn’t as harsh as the humans, who will either face execution or a decade and more to serve in prison. The current inmates in the Capital are Fuhri, Giga Lionheart, and Krauser. Two wolves who were convicted for attacking a human village, and Giga for kidnapping Frisk. Due to the wolf monsters attire ruined over the past years, they are currently wearing a gray and white delta rune robes. While the lionman monster wears a gray and white hoodie with dark gray pants.

                They sit up, irritated that it’s morning already. The wolf monsters will be serving their final day in community service, while the lionman will be serving his first 3 days assisting everyone who are in need. A monster in armor kicks the door open and threw a spear in each of their beds. They immediately run off and avoided the attack. “ **What the?!** ” the lionman retorts outloud, with a rude response coming from the monster’s Head Royal Guard, Undyne. “What do you mean ‘What the’?! You better wake your butt off and start your day here!”

                RG01 and RG02 stands outside on guard in assisting the three with their tasks. “So, like. You guys will be helping around the Monster Capital today. My partner will provide you the list of the things you can do throughout the day.” The guard with rabbit ears instruct, while the other with leather skin provides the listboard. The three lined up to see what they can do for the day; Krauser decides to help manage Grillby’s since the fire bartender is out of commission.  Fuhri can’t choose to help Krauser since there are no other jobs to do near the bar, instead he takes up helping Mettaton with the new product: “MTT soap”, advertised to be compatible with any skin, as well as giving them the metallic shiny surface..

                Giga takes up last and read through the entire board. He’s taking time in reading the list, from giving ‘Onion-san a time of his life: listening to the songs he will make’, ‘assisting Napstablook in getting his robot design’, or even ‘assist the Dreemurrs for the day’. Undyne’s arms are crossed while she stomped her foot repetitively, while waiting for the lionman to pick. After a while, he chooses to ‘Sweep the leaves off on the Monster Capital’s new park’. The Head Royal Guard relieves with a sigh, then have the other two guide them to their locations.

                Undyne assists Giga in heading to the park, and then as they walk she asks him. “So, why did you kidnap our friend?” The lionman twitched an eyebrow. “ **I keep telling you. I don’t know! I was on a couch watching TV, and then the next thing I know, I was in chains!** ” A lot of people have already asked him that question, and he’s losing his cool with repetitive questions. “Your human partner is under some sort of Trial at the Human Capital, thanks to that.” The lionman grows concern; before he could speak up a question, a loud screeching sound could be heard from the other block.

A car that is out of control can be seen from where they are, and Undyne facepalms for a moment. “The park is on the other side of the block, go left and you’ll see an arc that says ‘Park’. You won’t get lost without a guide, right?” She seems irritated. Undyne rushes in to the distorted traffic, while Giga sees Dianne inside that car. She looks bored, or concerned. In his current situation, he couldn’t do anything for her. “ **I’m sorry, young one.** ” His ears flop down for a moment, and turns around to his assigned workplace, the park.

* * *

                At the castle, the Dreemurrs just finished eating their breakfast. The castle layout of their dining room and kitchen is no different from their New Home and the Ruin’s Home. The only thing new about their ‘Newer Home’ is that they have two new empty picture frame with on top of the fireplace shelf. Asgore prepares his kingly attire, while Asriel is given a new set of clothing. An attire almost similar to his father’s. The only difference is that he doesn’t have a crown nor a chestplate with shoulder guards. A purple and white long sleeves with dark purple pants. As monster standards, he doesn’t need any shoes. At the back of his shirt is the Delta Rune insignia, representing the monsters’ royal crest.

                A little later, Toriel Dreemurr comes out of the halls with her own queenly attire; her dress is a mix of blue, white and royal purple. Her crown is a topaz circlet with a diamond at the top, just on her forehead. With preparations done, a small monster from MTT arrives to their home and readies the equipment. Proper lighting, a camera stand, and the lens attachment for the camera. A family photo for the Dreemurrs at the throne room, but what about the other frame? After the picture was taken, the monster in charge of the camera adjusts his lens for a bit before dismantling it. “Asriel, my child. What do you want to do for today?” Toriel asks while holding both shoulders.

                Asgore helps the monster with the equipment while they all walk out of the room. The halls that are familiar to the caretaker, and in a glance, she remembered her nightmares. She stops for a moment, while her grip on her child’s shoulder slowly tightens. “Mom…?” Asriel is starting to get hurt, he held her mother’s right hand; the illusion breaks and the mother lets go of her grip. “I’m sorry, Asriel. Are you hurt?” she kneels down to check her son. His shirt was wrinkled by the shoulders, and some parts of them were darkened. If she didn’t come back from her unwanted recall a moment later, she would have burned her own son.

                “I’m okay, mom.” Asriel looks concerned; Chara whispered unto Asriel’s mind, ‘ _She was infected with Flowey’s seed. But now, it’s gone. Frisk might have gotten rid of it before._ ’ Asriel replies with a thought. ‘Mom remembered something here.’ His best friend doesn’t respond to his assumption. “Mom, can we go to the park?” Asriel recalls the park at the Human Capital’s West City. It’s not a good suggestion for him since he doesn’t really know if their city has its own park, but because the goat child wants to get a breath of fresh air, it’s the first thing that comes in mind.

                Asgore comes back talking to someone on the phone. “Okay. We’ll be there.” He ends the call and puts it on his pocket. “Tori, Asriel, let’s go to the New City Park and have our lunch there.” Toriel smiles with relief; like father, like son. “I’ll go prepare our food into the picnic basket, why don’t you play with your father in the meantime.” Toriel gladly suggest, with her child nodding with glee in response. She went to the kitchen, while Asriel is left with his father, Asgore. “Golly, what can we do while we wait for your mother?” He looks up and ponders with a smile. Rubbing his chin with his hand.

                Asriel did the same, but before they could suggest something he receives another call. “A moment, my child.” He looks at the caller before answering the phone. “… Howdy, King Farlon…. It’s a pleasant day to us, both….. I would like to ask…” he looks at Asriel, who was busy juggling fire balls and making them disappear. “Has my son showed any different, sides…? We woke up and noticed that he was ….. Once…? I apologize for that; I also do not know that he can …. It’s fine……. Golly, what happened to Frisk? …… Try to talk to her whenever there is a chance…… It may be a heavy burden to tell her that, but she will not feel better unless you do that…. It is what Tori advised me… You are welcome, my friend…”

                He ends the call, and as he turns his attention to Asriel, the goat child gives a different look towards his father. His eyes are beaming in red, while the expression he gives is neutrally bored. “ _How is Frisk?_ ” Chara’s voice spoke from Asriel’s mouth. She and him are concerned. “Frisk is not okay, from his father’s perspective.” Asriel and Chara had their eyes widen. “She had confined herself in her room, studying what Sans had given to her as homework.” Asriel ponders as she looks down. “ _Maybe Frisk is serious about her role in life. She is the princess of the Human Capital, and then she is also going to be our Ambassador._ ” He puts a mature statement, and Asgore was amazed by that.

                “Chara…” The red glow in the goat child’s eyes disappeared as he puts his clenched hand over his palm. “That’s right! Frisk gave me a phone. Maybe I can cheer her up!” Asriel looks determined, and then he runs off to his room. “My son, please do not run in the halls!” He takes a step forward and extends his hand, worried that the goat child will get hurt, but he didn’t. Toriel comes back and notices that Asriel is not around. “Asgore, where is our son?” She asks. “Tori, Asriel went to get his phone.”

                They went to his room, and quietly opens the door to peek. They could hear him talking to himself. “Frisk, I don’t really know what your father did…but you should talk to him sometimes…… I mean, he is your father…. Please don’t cry, Frisk… _Who will take care of you when your father is gone?_ ” Chara takes over with a serious tone. “ _You may have lost your mother; my parents were hung and burned to a tree back before I ran away to the Underground….. At least, you have someone to take care of you, even that bodyguard who tries his best cares for you. You could say that, your father is doing his best to raise you as an independent person….. Try to bear with it and…_ ” with a pause, both Asriel and Chara’s voice said in unison. “ **Give him a chance.** ”

                Asgore and Toriel were quietly trying not to cry on the side. Their children had grown overtime, and they are thankful that they are as merciful as Frisk back in the UNDERGROUND. “Let us go give them a moment.” Asgore whispers, and went back to the dining hall. Asriel comes back with his shirt replaced with a new one. “Let us go, Asriel.”

* * *

                At the New City Park, there are some monsters who hang around either playing or laying down, enjoying the sun. Gerson sits by the picnic table while he looks at Giga, who sweeps the leaves into a pile. He looks really bothered, but he does his job really well. The lionman wipes off his forehead while giving a parch expression. The elder turtle monster approaches him with a bottle of water. “Thank you.” He politely said, while they sit down for a moment. “Why are you so down, sonny? Ye look like you’re doing fine, but I feel like you’ve been bothered by something.” Gerson initiates the conversation. “ **I am bothered that my adopted son is currently on a trial.** ” Gerson pats him on the back to comfort him. “Your son will be fine! I can feel it.” He smiles with a tooth showing. “ **I hope so. I mean, we’re in this situation we didn’t voluntarily do. I don’t remember what happened after being abducted, and now we’re being punished for something we did.** ”

                “You guys were being controlled by Gaster.” With legs crossed as she sits, Dianne appears on the flat picnic table with five hotdogs on separate plastic dangling on her hands. “What the heck?!” Gerson pulls away from the long chair and gets back. “Ye almost gave me a heart-attack, missy!” she lays them down, with a human gentleman walking to them. “Miss Dianne Vor. You must not sneak up on old people.” Dunkelheit follows with Sans. “Just because I’m old doesn’t mean that I can’t do ****!” the elder turtle retorts back to the human. “woah there, we’re not here to bust some shells.” Sans commented.

                “ **Good afternoon, young Dianne.** ” Giga responds calmly, as if he was expecting her to come. “Hey, Giga~!” she cheerfully greets back. “Good sir, may we sit with you?” the professor asks politely. “Sure. But wasn’t there a declaration that humans and monsters shouldn’t be with one another until the problem has been resolved?” the elder turtle mentions. “it’s fine here, pops. they're the assigned humans to collaborate in finding out the reasons for today’s events.” Sans gives his assurance that they’re part of the geek team.

                They all sat down and are having lunch. Gerson looks at the rogue, and recalled what Dunkelheit called her. “So, you’re Rance Vor’s sister… I thought you would be more serious than usual.” Gerson calls it, by comparing what he and she should have in common. “You know my brother? Well, he has his serious side. I have my own. But I don’t need to be serious all the time.” She replies with a joyful expression. “ **Young Dianne, are there news for what trial is Seven put into?** ” Giga’s question made the rogue look sad. “Yes. And the person who is evaluating Sven…is my brother.”

                A moment of silence for those who understood, and all of them went silent. “But don’t worry, Sven is stronger than that! And my brother will understand that he’s innocent.” Dianne reassures. Giga knows how strict her brother can be, Dunkelheit dismiss the trial to be a laughing stock because it’s him who is evaluating the gunman, Gerson sees hope that the warrior will do the right thing, and Sans couldn’t care less about it.

                “Your name is Giga, right?” Dunkelheit asks the lionman. “ **Yes. My name is Giga Lionheart.** ” Both of them offered their hands and shook in meeting. “I must say, how did you meet Seven Gears, and how did he react?” Giga scratches his mane for a moment, and started blunt. “ **I met him on Christmas Eve at the Corvus Orphanage. He was going to commit suicide when I first saw him.** ” The professor’s eyes widen, and everyone else looked surprise. Dianne, who was about to finish her food drops on the grass. “How, what happened?!” the rogue asks. He starts telling his story.

**_11 years ago, I was a wandering beastman at Corvus. I went around the world to look for my friends, who just up and disappeared on our home island. As midnight strikes, I was by the orphanage. That is where I saw a young child who had a knife ready to plunge into his throat. I rushed to stop him, and then, he told me his story. His parents left him there, and asked him to wait for them. But a year or so had passed, and fell into despair, that his parents wouldn’t come back anymore._ **

**_He didn’t look at me and scream, he was just sad. As I comfort him and asked to be patient, he hugged me like a son clinging to his father. Ever since then, I paused my search for my friends and started to comfort the child. I know that it wouldn’t be too long, until I became attached to him. He loves how I sing to cheer him up, and because of my guidance, he learned how to open up to the other children who are left with no parents._ **

**_Years have passed, and I was growing impatience for my search. What would have happened if I extend my stay here? I thought that maybe, I should adopt him and let him tag along with my search for my family, as I also help him search for his._ **

                Many people carry their own unfortunate tragedies, and among them were Seven Gears. Dianne was thinking quietly, while absorbing the fact that her lover fell into despair a long time ago. What would have happened if the lionman wasn’t there to stop him? “I am sorry to hear. But, it’s extraordinary that the lad did not react like most people would.” Giga responds to the gentleman. “He is an open-minded human. He doesn’t care what anyone would look like, as long as they are not negative to him or his friends.”

                Sans thought of something. “hey, uh. giga. can we hear you sing a song for us? i'm rather curious how you got the human to a good side.” Giga looks at the short skeleton with a smile. “ **Sure. It’s one way to clear off this negative feeling.** ” He stands off from his seat, and takes a step back to an open clean grassy space. The group starts clapping for him, while the others have taken notice that the lionman will be doing a performance.

                At the same time, the Dreemurrs have arrived. He inhales for a moment, and starts with. [[song starts here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lGOON_Kw1c)] “ **I will not drown in feeble pleasures!** ” His hands glow and casts a magic circle. The leaves he just gathered are forming a circle, as the wind carries into music. It sounds traditionally modern, while preaching royalty to the tunes. He continues with the lines that doesn’t make sense. It’s like his expression of being the king being indulge with his dominant power, while telling that he wouldn’t let go to his head. His deep voice and lyrics are in sync; despite the irony it suggests.

                Whenever he pauses for the right time, he controls the wind and allows the leave to create a harmonious beat. It is as if someone was playing the drums, flute and strings. It’s ridiculous, but amazing. Everyone in the park starts to approach into an audience, while Giga doesn’t mind. By the bridge he pauses, leaves started to snap for them to sound like gongs. Until he finishes it off with the same line as the first. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lGOON_Kw1c)]

                As soon as the music ends, everyone stands up clapping. The lionman didn’t realize that there was already a large crowd that happens to listen to his singing and magic. The leaves were gathered back into a pile, broken into pieces. “That was amazing!” Dianne cries out, Gerson was left with no words to express, other than yelling to the rest to be quiet. Dunkelheit claps along, but the genre of his song does not match with his preference, while Sans had both eye sockets close. “that was great.”

                Asriel was amazed that someone could sing with a deep voice, while Asgore and Toriel were glad that the lionman is not sad for his appointed task, even got to sing for the bystanders. The goat child was watching carefully, and saw a glimmer of blue in his eyes. He approaches the lionman without his parents’ guidance. “Are you new in the Monster Capital?” He greets with glee. Giga greets back. “ **Hello, young one. And yes, but I am not a citizen of this city.** ”

                The monster king steps in as his child looks back, “You seem to be enjoying yourself, Mr. Lionheart.” Asgore said nicely. “ **Singing what you think you can be is one way to channel your negative emotions away. Otherwise, I may not be able to bear my days of work, Mr. Dreemurr.** ” Their height almost matches, but Asgore beat him by the horns. “Please, call me Asgore. You preach the Pleasant Principles of Ephemeral Praise into a song, which most kings would feel. Were you a King, perchance?” Asgore asks.

                “ **I apologize to disappoint, but no. I am no king, despite what others assume that I am.** ” The two large monsters seem to match some wavelengths, as both of them laugh. It left others confuse, but Dunkelheit, Gerson, Dianne, and Sans seem to understand. “Let us talk again, tonight at our home.” The monster king gives his word while Toriel nods to the lionman. “You have such a deep, yet wonderful voice.”

                “ **And you have such a wonderful motherly charm, Mrs. Dreemurr.** ” It sounded like a flirt to everyone, but that is not the case for him. Lastly, Asriel approaches him. He glanced curiously at Giga for a moment, and said “Mr. Lionheart, sir. _You don’t feel like a bad monster._ “ A blunt comment from him was like a stab in the chest for the other. “ **Young one, you don’t feel like a bad monster as well, but please be mindful of what you say. That comment is impolite.** ” A sermon from Giga with a deep voice took a direct hit for the goat child. He flusters with a nod, “I’m sorry for what I just said!” The fact that Chara made that comment in his voice was embarrassing. “ **But at least, your friend is honest.**” He answers back with a smile.

                Giga shocked Asriel and Chara; he knows about his condition and didn’t hesitate to assure that he’s okay with it. By the time lunch period has finished, The Dreemurrs have left the park, and Giga continues to sweep. But after his performances, many monsters want to get his autograph. Undyne was one of them, while ensuring the crowd doesn’t rally up to the lionman. Sans could only shrug it off with a welp, as the group leaves the park. They might have an agenda to go to, but before they left, Dianne pulls Giga’s hand, and lend him something: An [MP3 Player].

                Gerson continues to watch over the lionman, who despite for what he did is still supposed to clean the park by sweeping off the pile of leaves. Until night time has arrived. Dianne and Sans were walking out back to the park, while Giga Lionheart sits outside with Gerson. They were talking about something. “Oh, so that means that you are a monster from a different continent.” The elder turtle had said in conclusion. “ **Yes, and our deaths are different from yours. We do not turn to dust; our kind are like the humans. When we die, our bodies will simply rot overtime.** ” The lionman explains.

                Sans was thinking as they walk to them. ‘could humans and monsters really co-exist?’ It was about time that they guide him to the Monster King’s home. The night was rather quiet compared to North City’s norm. It was noisy in his home’s environment, but it was mild enough to allow neighbors to sleep through it. Dianne and Sans were talking something about what comes next for tomorrow’s project with Alphys and Dunkelheit. As they walk, Giga saw a familiar red flower. Gerson sees it and comment, “That is weird. I’ve never seen a ‘Red Magic Lily’ bloom at the corner cracks of the street.

                Giga looks nervous all of the sudden. Dianne’s phone starts to ring with a familiar recipient. She answers the call as they walk. “Hello, Rance…. You know, it’s rare for you to mention that you actually trained with a monster or two…. You can fill me in later, how is Sven? ….. He passed the trial?” A sigh of relief for the rogue, while the lionman looks glad that his adopted son is okay, until there was a long pause. “…. I should ask the monster king for permission? Why is that…. Seven needs to see Giga?” Everyone stops and wondered what Rance was talking about.

                “Oh.. okay…. Can I at least talk to him? …. If King Asgore approves of the request, but you need to talk to King Farlon for that request to be approved. You know that you need both parties to……. We’ll do what we can from here…” She ends the call and looks down. She looks concerned all of the sudden. “what did your brother tell you?” Sans asks her with a grin. She didn’t respond to the short skeleton’s question. Instead, she turns to the lionman. “Giga… Sven is [Spared], but ……”

                Her mouth moves through, and the lionman became more concerned. “You did please the Dreemurrs with your singing. Will you ask them that request?” Dianne asks. Giga looks down, but then looks back to the rogue. “I will, for his sake.”

* * *

 

                They arrived at the front door of the Dreemurr Residence, the Royal Palace of the Monster Monarchy. Sans knocks on the door, while everyone waits for someone to open it. A distant, young voice could be heard from the inside. “Coming!” Asriel said from afar, and in moment later, he opens the door to see who was outside. “hey, kiddo.” Sans gives the goat child a greeting, while he replies. “Hey, Sans! Mr. Gerson, Mr. Lionheart, and Rance’s sister.” Giga comments the warm greeting. “ **Please, call me Giga.** ”, while the rogue adds her. “You can call me, Dianne.” Her eyes are dead-sharp on Asriel, with a weird urge to do something reckless.

                “ **Young Dianne, please do not snuggle the goat child.** ” Giga gives a stressed sigh, reminding her not to do something rash. Dianne puffs her cheeks with her arms crossed. “I wasn’t going to snuggle Asriel.” She clearly denies it, but the lionman knows from experience the aura of someone who has the urge to do something rash. “Uhhh, I’ll go get Mom and Dad. Please, come in!” Asriel welcomes them in.

                Later, Toriel arrives in her caretaker robes, while Asgore arrives in his usual attire. A white and pink flower shirt, and brown pants. As courtesy, they are lead to the living room. “Mr. Gerson, I thank you for guiding them to our home.” The monster king gives his thanks. “No problem, your highness. If you excuse me, I would like to give you a moment with the lion.” The elder turtle suggests while going to the halls. Asriel sits with his parents, but soon after he held his forehead. He suddenly felt dazed, but later on shook his head.

                “Asriel, it is time for you to rest.” Toriel suggests, as she stands up from her seat. “I’m sorry, everyone. Also, Mr. Giga…” the goat child sounded pale at first, but he mustered enough energy to say, “My name is Asriel.” The lionman politely nods while he waves his hand a little. “ **You seem tired, young Asriel. It is best that you rest.”** After the final goodnight was made, Asgore looks back to them and asks. “You seem to be bothered, Mr. Lionheart.”

                Giga breathes through his nose as he asks. “ **King Asgore, may I request to see my son, Seven Gears?** ” Asgore raised an eyebrow, “You have a son for a human?” The fireplace crackles as he explains why that is the case. “Oh, it is the first time I have heard in long years, that a human is parented with a monster.” Dianne cuts in, “Sven needs to see his foster father…. Because his quest to find his parents have ended. His parents were already dead, and we just found out about it this night….” The room fell in silence, while the lionman trembles. “ **He is like a son to me, and as a father, I need to comfort him.** ” The rogue cuts in halfway, Asgore’s phone rings. “… Yes, I will tell them.” It ended briefly.

                The monster king looks at them “Giga Lionheart”, while in the Human Capital, Rance bows to King Farlon in the throne room “Rance Vor…”. In unison, the King from separate cities said to them…

“I will approve of this, but only for one day.”

-To be continued… [[Ending song plays here](http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm24490840)]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Too many **bold characters**? Giga's voice is deep, like the songs added. Now, you might assume that Giga Lionheart and the one singing the songs are the same.... Almost, actually. He's a reference to the voice of the songs added to the story, Giga Lacan. The name of the first song I added is in Japanese, but its english name is "Pleasant Principles of Ephemeral Praise". Ring any bells? 
> 
> The last song added after the -To be continued is called "Manjushage, or Red Magic Lily/Red Spider Lily" By the way, I do not claim those songs as my own. (ところで、私は自分自身のものとしてそれらの曲を主張しません。) They are made by Muzzle-lab on the album [a href="http://alice-books.com/item/show/3229-1"]"TRICHOMATIK"[/a]. Everyone has a story to tell, and Giga can express them through that. 
> 
> Lastly, Day one is officially over! Did anyone notice anything odd about Asriel and Frisk? Leave a comment on what you think will happen to them.


	11. [Trial by Darkness: Piece two]A 3-Day Vacation Work with the Flags: Day Two (part one)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ _Mom… I miss you… I want to see you again, one last time…_ ” –Chara and Frisk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here posting a new extra chapter of Seed of Flowey - Extra! Right now, the highlights are broadly focused on OC with the UT characters. But while that happens, something seems to have happened with our young characters. Care to read? Here's a little note: As long as Giga and Seven have the spotlight, japanese furloid songs will always be involved.

                It was around morning at Rance’s apartment, the day after Seven had a revelation that his parents are dead. The gunman sits up in his wake with eyes worn out and hair fuzzy, while his eyes were slowly tuning to its focus. He stretches up to get a better look at the situation, and with a few half-sleep yawns he looked around. A spacious gray room that is not out of the ordinary, a bookshelf at the side of the door; two windows behind his bed, and at the side; a coat hanger with the warrior’s armor attachments hanging on them, and Rance in his brown long-sleeve shirt and pants, leaning on the only door, sleeping with his arms crossed below his chest.

                “ughhh…..wait, WHAT?!” Seven’s realization made him shout out loud; he’s sleeping in the Rance’s bed while the owner was sleep-leaning on the door. The warrior stands away with a stretch, before turning his attention to the gunman. “Oh, you’re awake… good…” Without letting Seven reply, he left the room. As soon as he gets out of bed and exits the room, he takes a look around Rance’s house. It’s spacious with only few decorations. There are no pictures of anyone he knows hanging on the wall; vases and tables are just set around, and upon closer inspection, there’s a pouch of daggers in one of them.

                Other than the bedroom behind him, there are two more rooms. One leads to the bathroom, while the other leads to someone else’s room. He tries to look into that room, but it is currently locked. A stair in the middle of the 2nd floor open room seems odd, but it might be there for a reason instead of it being at the side of the wall. He descends down and saw that, his apartment is more spacious than above. He doesn’t have too many decorations to fill in the gaps, but it goes to show how clean and order the place is. A big room divided into four with no walls or doors: one is the usual living room, a couch for five people, a TV, and a coffee table; a dining room, composed of one long dining table with ten seats.

                A kitchen that has a counter, the only unusual is that his kitchen is like a bar at Grillby’s, and the last gap is some form of study session; three bookshelves forming a room-like space, and a short round table for four assorted color of beanbag chairs. Upon closer inspection, it has three categories: Comics, Fiction Literary, and Factual Literary. It is unusual for the warrior to be reading comics, and it can only be assumed that Dianne happens to read in that corner, Seven can only assume that.

                “Seven, go sit on the dining table. I’m almost done with breakfast.” The warrior instructs the trickshooter, while he could just scratch his head. As soon as he sits down, a plate happens to land on where he sits on the table. Upon it falling right in front of him like a Frisbee was a surprise. A knife and fork flings to him, but it lands safely on the mat. It didn’t take long before Rance arrives with a big plate full of bacon and eggs, with two empty mugs on the other hand. Seven just stares at him for a moment, thinking that the warrior is going to spin the plate and safely land the food unto his plate. But instead, he places it on the middle, and went back to get a pot of coffee. He just looks at the plate for a moment before getting some for himself.

* * *

 

                At around 8:55AM at West City, the gunman and warrior in their usual attire walk to the side of the road as they talk about something. The cars passing by are rather fast, but traffic around them is not an issue. Seven never went to the other outskirts of town, while he breathes in the fresh air produced by the trees around them. The green environment makes it comfortable, that even elders can jog through without much of a problem. They went pass a couple who look like they are in their 80’s, but they seem to have enough energy to exercise. Rance has a cleaver knife sheathed in its scabbard on his back, while Seven’s guns are holstered on his side.

                “So your sister is at the Monster Capital with your nurse?” Seven asks with his hands put behind his back, looking rather carelessly. “Yeah, they’re researching about the Red Moon effects and how our SOULS work as an advantage. There’s also the fake personnel incident, wherein Bianca saw a flower turn into a person.” Rance gives his detail. “That’s going to be a problem. Which means that, it can replicate anyone we know?” the gunman asks. “Professor Dunkelheit and the two are working together with their monster scientist to counter that problem. But so far, while we don’t have the technology to spot an imposter, we could always go for the classic.”

                As they walk, they finally reach the gate. Darvenshel and his soldiers are gathered there to meet up with someone. “Hey, pops!” Rance calls out for the green tank. “Rance, my boy!” In their approach, the soldiers take their rifles and aims at them. With a jolly laugh, he asks. “If you are really Rance, then what’s your favorite food of all time?” Seven removed both guns from his holsters and took aim at one soldiers; the morning just happens to start with a sudden death question. Rance rubs his finger under the chin of his helmet and says. “My favorite food of all time is….” In an instant, he crosses both arms together and answered: “Chocolate.”

                They didn’t lower their guns, and the green tank crosses his arms, watching them carefully. Seven takes a look around. “Rance? They’re not lowering their guns…” he’s continues to look around while some of them are starting to put their fingers on the trigger. The warrior sighs in stress and adds. “If you really doubt about my identity, then let me tell you… Darvenshel’s true age.” West starts to tap his lower arm gauntlet.

                “Say, pops. You didn’t tell your subordinates your age, right?” He puts his right hand just near his mouth and whispers, “He’s really, really old. About seventy—“ before he could finish his sentence, the crossbow pickaxe that the green tank had behind him was thrown towards him. It was easily avoided, while the gunman was also moved along with the warrior. A hole created numerous cracks on the road, as the warrior re-appears to the right. “Hah, and the real pops hates being mentioned that he’s old, even though he is three years older than the king.” Rance playfully jests at Darvenshel, while Seven leans his bronze gun unto his mouth with a sickened expression. It didn’t take long before the trickshooter went to a nearby trash bin and threw up.

                “You just know how to make enemies among friends, Rance?” West comes to take his weapon, while the soldiers are already gossiping. He coughs once and his crew assembles into position. “I guess this is current standard protocol?” The warrior asks, while patting his comrade’s back in comfort. “Yes. Due to recent identified imposters, we had to take matters seriously.” As soon as Seven was done wiping his mouth off, he takes a snack from his pocket. “Please don’t do that to me, next time.” He adds as he removes the foil off of the candy bar.

                “Wait, is that my….” It took the warrior a few moments before he realized that the gunman just took out a chocolate bar. “I snagged one for the trip.” Seven returns a glance before he munched on it. With a leer, he gives a clean warning: “The next time you take one of my chocolate bars, I’ll feed you to the pound.” Seven doesn’t seem to mind as he continues to eat the snack slowly. Darvenshel approaches the two and asks, “So, are you going to accompany him to the Monster Capital?” Rance turns his attention to the green tank and responds, “Yes. He needs to be with his monster guardian for the day. Our king and theirs have already approved the request.”

                “Hmmm… I take it that it is a paramount for him to see the other. Care to lighten me with an explanation?” West looks at the trickshooter, who seem to be calm for the moment. But he doesn’t respond, and his mind seems to be somewhere else. “Well, you see…. Hm?” Rance was about to explain the situation, but he receives a call from someone. Without hesitation, he immediately answers the phone, “Your highness…. Sir, what happened?” …. Frisk is missing again? …. I’ll do my best to scout the city for her….. No need for a city-wide search party, sir. I’ll have my guards take care of the rest…..sir, I am currently with pops at the moment, I will just lend him my task… Okay, sir…”

                The warrior returns his phone back to his pocket, and turns his attention to everyone else. “Hey pops, can I ask two favors?” His eyes to the other are dead serious. “What is it?” the green tank asks. “Frisk may have run away, again. I will do a clean sweep around the city, and I will need all the guards to assist me in doing so. But I can’t with my task to accompany Seven Gears to his destination.” Rance looks worried that the child may have hid herself within the capital, which is what he hopes that is the case.

                “And you plan to have me accompany him to his route?” Darvenshel raises a hand and had his index finger swirl around on mid-air five times. All the guards have replied ‘Sir!’ before leaving them. “Okay, I will accompany him to the Monster Capital. But I expect reports for each route you search upon. Do I make myself clear?” He sounds old and serious, but he seem to have a heart in his response. “Of course, this is the princess we are talking about.” Rance nods once and with eyes glint in crimson red.

                The warrior turns to the gunman and places both hands unto his comrade’s shoulders. “Seven, change of plans. West will accompany you in your journey.” Seven snaps back to reality, and looks back confused. From his eyes, he asks ‘what just happened?’ All he could see is a determined glare from Rance. “I need to do a quick sweep of the capital, and find the princess.” Without hesitation, Rance runs back to where they just walked, and looks back with a wave. “Don’t worry, if anything happens, pops will help you with it!”

                The gunman looks more confused as he asks, “Rance?!” In a blink of an eye, the warrior blurs away with several fast and loud footsteps echoing away from them. Darvenshel and Seven returns a glance with one another before departing.

* * *

 

                Outside the walls of the Human Capital is comparable to the Great Wall of China, or even slightly lower than its height. While the plain is green and more than fresh; the wind blows freely and the breeze somewhat refreshes them. From there on, they already had a roofless vehicle ready for them. All Darvenshel could comment was “I was going to visit my ex-wife to see if she’s okay.” It turns out that he had plans of his own. Why did he just go along with Rance’s task instead of declining it? Seven asks himself.

                From an open grass field to the forest they went, and like the Human Capital, the Monster Capital has its own walls. Just by the sealed entranceway, King Asgore awaits outside with three of his Royal Guards doing something. The two exited their vehicles, and the green tank asks, “What is going on here?” Seven takes a look around, and it looks like the monsters are fighting one another. The monster Royal Guards are trying to detain a number of dog monsters. Lesser Dog, Greater Dog, Dogamy and Dogaressa looks bewildered.

                RG 01, RG 02, and RG 05 are doing what they can to subdue their foes, while King Asgore throws a number of pink pulsing missiles on their opponents. “I said **yield!** ” he commands, but his magic is not doing any effect. Seven rushes in with guns at hand, and his eyes glimmer in light blue. The green tank follows by grabbing hold unto Lesser Dog, but in his grapple the dog’s neck starts to extend. Asgore looks back and sees the human under great focus.

                The gunman closes his eyes for a moment, while listening to the wild barks of the monsters struggling to chew off a limb or such. A sound of sword, spear, fur, and axes were going at random with their growls. In a single moment, Seven opens his eyes and fired his bronze revolver unto Greater Dog’s speartip. Before the echo of the gunshot had reached the dogs, he fired his silver revolver in a purposely missing mark.

                Moments later, the bronze revolver’s bullet starts to madly ricochet around from the monster’s plating, weapon, and the hood of the car, the bullet successfully hits the bewildered dog’s necks and foreheads. Asgore immediately tracks the bullet, and to his surprise it was made of rubber. The silver gun’s bullet strikes the ground safely, and upon closer inspection, it was metallic. Darvenshel was amazed and shock that in a glimpse, Seven was able to formulate a perfect rebound with only two bullets. The rubber bullet lands on the target’s necks and the back of the head that they were knocked out cold.

                After a while, the monster Royal Guards have gathered the unconscious monsters and waited for medical monsters to come. The two humans were by the vehicle; Seven was reloading singular bullets to the barrel, while Darvenshel takes his crossbow pickaxe from the rear. “I see you are more than meets the eye, young one.” The green tank commends the gunman for his action. “When I saw those dogs going wild, I could see Giga going through the same phase. I don’t want to see anyone in that state… I don’t want to lose anyone…” he said with a low and sorrowful tone of voice, while looking at his gun.

                “Say, who gave you those guns?” Darvenshel asks with a glance. Seven looks back for a moment, and then looks at his guns with the same depressing expression. “My step-father did.” West rubs the back of his helmet in thought, and asks one more question. “Who is your step-father?” Asgore approaches them to give his thanks, but at the same time Seven answered. “Giga Lionheart is my step-father.” The monster king and green tank can’t seem to figure out how it went to that, until the monster paramedics- a toucan and a duckling dressed in white nurse robes arrived and carried the unconscious monsters.

                Surprisingly, the duckling was ball of feather with a fitting attire was strong enough to lift off the large stretcher with the help of the toucan. They all proceeded to the inside of the Monster Capital, where their king allows the human Royal Guard to have his vehicle drive into it. With Asgore’s guidance, they made way into the laboratory, where the human professor, nurse, and rogue collaborate with the former royal scientist, Alphys and Sans. The automated door opened, with Mettaton EX poking Giga’s chest and putting his face close to the lionman’s.

                “OH DARLING, WITH YOUR TALENT OF SINGING, WE COULD HAVE A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF FAME AND FORTUNE.” The robot proposes, but Giga looks away with a disgusted frown. He doesn’t really want to be part of a monster show, Darvenshel could only assume. Sans was at the side giving a grin expression, “can’t force him to something like that.” Alphys, Bianca, and Dunkelheit were reading on the notes that the monster have provided with keen interest. In a blink, Dianne appears on the lionman’s side, pulling his right arm and teases Mettaton, “You can’t buy him to your fame, Mettaton. I won’t allow it!”

                Seven’s eyebrow twitches when he could tell that the rogue is just looking for an excuse to snuggle the monster. “Dianne, please do not snuggle my step-dad.” He said with both eyes closed to a line. Dianne and Giga looks back as both of them dash to the gunman like a marathon. Two of them doesn’t make much noise as they dash; they’re both cat-like in their toes. Surprisingly, Dianne didn’t blur to Seven.

                Both of them rushed to the front, while Mettaton blows his metallic cheeks for the rude switch of attention. The two asked questions like ‘how are you?’, ‘what happened?” and ‘ **are you alright?** ’. Sometimes their questions synchronize and it makes the situation awkward. Asgore and Darvenshel followed from behind, as the green tank lifts the gunman from the shoulders and put him to the side with the short skeleton. “Please, give the young man some space.” He said. “Oh, hey pops!” Dianne raises a hand in her greeting.

                And as soon as Asgore makes his way, Dianne readies to pounce. In unison, Seven and Giga scolds the rogue “ **Do not snuggle!** ” she sits on the floor and pouts with cute eyes. Sans could barely stop his giggle with a comment, “can’t goat what you want, dy.” The gunman looks at the skeleton for a moment; Sans was expecting the human to run from fear, but instead he offers a hand with a cheery half-smile. “Hi there!” Sans looks at his hand and gives a grin witty reply. “kid, before you lend your hand to others, you should at least introduce yourself.”

                Mettaton returns to his box form and sneaks from behind to see the human. With gloved hands, the robot rubs just underneath his tiled screen while the other is on his supposed hips, making an impression. “HMMM…. THIS ONE HAS POTENTIAL OF BEING A STAR IN ONE OF MY SHOWS: GUNMAN TERMINATOR!” The robot rolls in from behind, while Seven looks back confused. “I CAN SEE IT NOW. YOU THINK YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE IT TO SHOWBIZZ?” a question he can’t seem to compensate. Asgore placed his clenched hand just before his mouth and coughed to get Mettaton’s attention.

                With a minor glare from the king, Mettaton gives them space. “DARLINGS, REMEMBER. MY OFFER STILL STANDS.” With a quick gesture of farewell, the robot goes away faster than expected. It didn’t take long before Seven looks back at Sans. “I’d like to try that again. Hi, my name is Seven Gears!” It was a good effort for him to put up a positive face, but Sans could tell how much he trembles from the inside. He couldn’t tell if he’s trembling in fear, or something else. The short skeleton could only put up a compensating action and accepted the offer of hand. “my name is sans, and uh. nice to meet you, too.”

                It was a new experience to have shaken hands with a skeletal monster, and it felt somewhat cold and hard for him. Dianne cuts in between, “Hey Sans. Can I borrow him for some moments?” She had given a better response for that, unlike most who would suggest a second only. Sans couldn’t care less and just lets off with a ‘be my guess’ expression, before he goes back to the kitchen. Asgore would want to know some results from the intellectuals with their progress, but he places the complicated relationship among the lionman and the gunman’s situation. It didn’t take long before they went to the kitchen and have their discussion there.

                Asgore and Sans are just there as audience for the three to talk things through. But at most, Seven clutches onto Giga as he cries out. Despite his outburst of tears last night, it doesn’t bother to end for him since he was asked to bring up the whole detail. Giga could only hug back with his large paw hand gently patting the other’s head in comfort.

                Dianne could only watch as how close the two really are without interrupting them, and how well the lion man comforts his adopted human child. With a brief moment, he starts to sing a ballad song [[song starts here](http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm24490840)]. A parting song for the dead, which made the mood heavier. His deep voice syncs well with his lyrical song, that it made Seven calm down for a moment. Without realizing it, their SOULS gleam as they bond. The monster king could only watch, while the short skeleton is getting an impression that Alphys’ assumption is theoretically correct. [[song ends here](http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm24490840)]

                As soon as the song ends, the gunman falls asleep while leaning on the lionman’s chest. Seven was left relieved while his bottled emotions were exhausted through a serene rhythm. Dianne looks down and whispered, ‘you are not alone in facing past tragedies, Sven.’ Asgore and Giga heard it perfectly. Dianne looks at both of them with a glance, before turning her attention to the sleeping gunman. “Maybe someday, I’ll share that.” The monster king could only ponder about the two’s situation; for 11 years they were together like brothers, but all the lion man could do is parent a child who longed for his lost parents.

                Asgore could only add, “Never have I seen a human and a monster this close, other than Frisk’s adventures with the UNDERGROUND monsters.” Giga looks up to him and said, “ **When you travel around the world, you would see a lot of things that are very rare.** ” Dianne adds a comment, “A singing lion beastman would be one of them.” She feels like fidgeting around her seat. Sans doesn’t seem to break his grin routine; he doesn’t really care about the two. “hey, are there other monsters alive and interacting with humans out there in the open world?” He went to the point, and Giga could only smile back. “ **Yes, there are other countries who consider monsters as citizens. But from what you want to know, there are also some places that are very discriminative to monsters.**”

                Their attention shifts to the short skeleton, and all he could do is momentarily closes his eye lids with a shrug. “welp, can’t hurt but to ask. but, i'm surprised that you were able to see right through me.” When he opens his eye sockets, there is no glow of light. Giga replies, “ **We monks can tell when someone wants to make a point. But I see that you are just being cautious.** ” Sans could only look away for a moment as he rubs his head in embarrassment. “it’s just a precaution…” before the short skeleton could explain any further, Asgore’s phone rings.

                “Yes, hello? ….” He smiled when he picked up the phone, but it suddenly frowned to a serious expression. “… Tori, what happened…?” It didn’t take long before Dianne’s phone rang and she picks it up. “What is it, brother? …. You want to talk to him? He just finished letting his bottled feelings out….. You’re going to talk to him instead….. Okay...” Dianne turns her head to Sans and hands him the phone. Sans could tell that it might be an important thing if he has the nerve to talk to someone he seems to hate. “hey, you’re going to wear a clown costume for this?”

                Dianne frowns at the short skeleton with his remark, while the warrior retorts back. “so, you failed to protect her, again.” Sans states the question. “That aside, do you have an ability in tracking down anyone with your magic?” Rance asks a question, but Sans could feel like chuckling. “you must be a special kind of stupid to assume that i can do that. why not reflect on your failures on yourself and quit your job while you’re at it?” Sans closes both eye sockets when he playfully said that. “You really like to put the hate on me, huh? Well then, to answer your question on who’s really stupid, that would be your brother, Papyrus.” A heartbeat just skipped, an insult too direct. Sans starts to clench his hand unto Dianne’s phone as Rance continues.

                “What, you think insulting you would be enough, Science prop? No offense to him, but you really screwed up in spoiling your brother, to think that he’s all that great while having him pounce around ignorantly about the dangers of the outside world. And the fact that you let him be something so stupid. Aren’t you proud that he’s not dead when the lionman was under Flowey’s influence? He has good potential, that I can say is true, but what you did to him is simply letting him live in a lie of pure fantasy than letting him know the dangerous truth of our current situations.” Sans’ eyes were bursting in blue flames with a terrible frown when Rance just elaborated something so cruel, while Asgore ends his call on his phone, just to notice that the short skeleton is running in a shorter fuse.

                “Oh, and don’t tell me that I failed to protect the princess just because I don’t have the ability to use magic like you do, nor will it be enough if her disappearance was a blink. I shouldn’t have wasted my time with you since even though you can move around more freely, you are practically **useless** —“ the rogue immediately snatched the phone before the short skeleton breaks loose.

                “Brother, what are you doing? That’s enough!” she retorts back, until a moment of silence. Rance replies out loud, “I’m done screwing around with that short skeleton. If no one there could help us find the princess, then we’ll be heading out for another search party.” Dianne looks concerned, while thinking quietly. Asgore approaches the rogue and asks her, “Young Dianne, may I speak with the caller?”

                Giga was starting to give a bad impression about Rance, and only he could assume that it is Rance who just ticked off Sans since the rogue called the caller ‘brother’. Dianne gives brief awkward expression to the monster king and tries to reason. “Don’t mind him. I’m sure he’s just as worriedly confused as everyone back home are.” Sans snaps his fingers and her phone teleports to Asgore’s hand. “Hello?” he asks, while the short skeleton creates a blockade of blue bones to separate the rogue and the monster king. “heh, your brother must have a really love to have a death wish to open up to me like that.” with an intimidating glare and glow from his eye socket and hand, Dianne returns back with an irritated glare.

                “It’s only because you can’t give him at least a good impression. I may not have been there when the whole fight with you two started somewhere, but the fact that you belittle him ever since we met at Mt. Ebott is what you could say that you really want to piss him off.” Dianne snaps back at the skeleton. “I’m sure he has his reasons for saying bad things, only because I can tell that you’ve been mouthing him off from the start!”

                Sans clenched his skeletal hand into a fist, as Dianne’s SOUL reveals itself from a half Violet and Green soul to Blue. Her body starts to levitate before being slammed into the wall. Giga stands up as he carries the human gunman. “ **Skeletal one, stop!** ” he could only plead; he can’t cast any magical suppression to stop Sans, since his hands are full. “you and your brother…” Dianne struggles to reply. “Don’t deny that I’m right about that one! My brother can be as kind as anyone else if you don’t treat him like…like some **murderer**!” Sans was about to slam his hand down, but Asgore grips the short skeleton’s arm before he could even do it.

                “Sans, **that’s enough**.” A threatening tone from the monster king, while a piercing glare struck like an arrow to the skeleton’s chest: His options to [ **FIGHT** ] and [ **ACT** ] breaks into pieces. Dianne’s body, that was nailed to the wall was released from Sans’ grip, and in an instant, Papyrus enters the room; his cheery expression which seems that his Orange SOUL became Green suddenly snuffs itself out. “BROTHER, I THE GREAT—WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE?!” Sans sits down on the floor, paralyzed while the blue bone blockade disappears.

                Asgore coldly stares for a moment before walking away, calling someone. “Alphys, I need you to do something for me, and I need you to do it **now**.” The rogue painfully stands up, while the tall skeleton comes to aid his brother. “HUMAN DIANNE, WHAT IS GOING ON? WHY IS MY BROTHER SITTING ON THE FLOOR?” Papyrus begs to ask. With her right arm over her chest, and her hand holding her rib side, she replies. “Just… take care of your brother… I need some time away from Sans.” She walks out of the room with a painful expression, leaving the tall skeleton confused and sad. Sans looks worn out as he thinks about what the warrior just insulted. His vision was blurring for a while, as he could hear Papyrus cry to him, begging that he should stay strong.

                But before his vision blurs, he felt a sensation. His vision comes back to normal, with Giga upfront and lending his large glowing hand unto the short skeleton’s chest. A sphere of wind flows circularly into his frame, while his condition is returning back to normal. “ **Hush now, skeletal one. You will be okay.** ” A few moments later, he removes his hand and stands up from his position. Papyrus was behind Sans, and his brother only realized that the tall skeleton was helping him lean over while the lionman heals him. “ **I do not know what is going on with you and Young Dianne’s brother. But for only you two to live in peace, both of you must apologize to one another.** ” How he said it wasn’t just a normal suggestion, it was more of a threat. Giga walks away while his other hand carries Seven.

* * *

 

                Alphys starts to type from her computer, while a lot of windows pop up. A line of code streams in one of them, while an overall map of the country is shown. She continues to type fast, while a crosshair starts to move around, pinpointing something. Asgore Is still on the line with Rance and said, “Young Rance, please do not say such hateful things to anyone else, ever again.” The end-receiver replies while he pants. It could be heard that he’s jumping from one rooftop to another. “I’ve been doing that ever since I had a bad encounter with your sentry…..” he was breathing hard, until he stops for a moment. Asgore’s ear twitched for a moment, and replies with a worried question, “Are you…?” Rance cuts him off, “Don’t tell anyone in there… I guess, what I just said would’ve been my last words before I—“

                “Stay Determined. Don’t give up, young Rance!” Asgore cheers out loud, while everyone else within the room turns their attention to the monster king. “I appreciate your cheer, your Majesty. I’m not supposed to be hurt in the first place.” Asgore looks to a corner and asks, “What do you mean…?”

* * *

 

                On the West City Hospital – Entrance, Rance is making his way with his left chest bleeding him dry. The doctors and nurses start to panic as they run around, looking for a nearby movable hospital bed. With his phone sticking by the shoulders to his ear, while a hand holds his wound close, he replies. “Frisk wasn’t just abducted by someone… I cannot say that… It was Gaster… But….” His eyes were flickering in red, like a flashlight running out of battery, while his SOUL continues to break itself and put itself back together. It kept refusing to die.

                “It might be, the flower’s doing… It… took our Queen’s image, and made it look like she was… alive.” Before long, he slips off, but continues to talk with blood tainting the white floors. “Our King and everyone else were shocked that… an illusion of her Queen made its appearance, and almost got killed from hesitation….” Breathing in and out. “Young Rance, you must save your strength!” Asgore replies out. A commotion from the other side starts to happen. “Our Queen… was a known Markswoman, specializes in using a bow and arrow… If I wasn’t there… then the King might have been…. Through hesitation…”

                His mind is going numb, but his SOUL continues to refuse. King Asgore felt that something wasn’t right that King Farlon didn’t call him. He must be still in shock that he saw his dead wife take away Frisk and nearly killed him. Inside his mind, he could imagine every soldier would hesitate at the very sight of the queen making her appearance; the only person who acted in protecting Farlon was Rance by blocking him.

                A loud thud was heard from the warrior’s side, while several people are making a commotion. A body was heard lift up, while the monster king ends the call. Back the laboratory, Asgore turns his attention to Darvenshel, who has been desperately trying to call the King. In a miracle, someone picks up. After the scan was done from Alphys’ computer, the circular crosshair locks on a specific location. Darvenshel asks from his phone, “King Farlon, what is going on there?! …. What…? That’s impossible! …….. North was just talking to King Asgore, why is that? ….” Darvenshel turns his attention to the monster king.

                Dianne and Bianca were turned to ask Asgore the question, ‘What happened to Rance?’ while Dunkelheit could barely care to bat an eye in response. “Your highness. Our king had just gotten over from his state of shock, and would like to ask North’s whereabouts.” The monster king grits his teeth, thinking of an alibi instead of telling them that he was on the verge of death. He returned Dianne’s phone with hands shaking, while trying to put a façade, for the warrior’s sake. “Young Rance… Just got to the hospital on time… I will trust your doctors that his life is ensured.”

                Dianne could tell what he really means as she looks at her phone; the monster king forgot to end the call, as it continues to count. She ends it immediately and shrugs off the possible predicament: “My brother is tough as nails! He’ll be okay.” Bianca breathes safely, while Darvenshel relays the message. As soon as they turn their attention to the monitor, the crosshair focuses on one location. Alphys gives her statement: “Because I gave her phone an upgrade, I installed a tracking chip just in case… T-thanks to that, we now have a lead where Frisk might be… Huh?”

                Alphys was putting up a speech, but then noticed that they were staring at the monitor, stunned to see where it was pinpointed. King Asgore remembers clearly that the given location was where the dog sentries went to scout, and disappeared until today. Darvenshel talks back to the phone and said, “Farlon… They just had a lock on where the princess would be………”

“The **Abundant Life Village**.”

* * *

 

                Meanwhile, somewhere in a forest full of fog. A young goat child wanders around carelessly, looking for someone. He looks from one side of the tree, up to another, while a silhouette passes through from behind. He itched his head while he thinks for a second. A quiet forest is more blinding than the fog itself. It didn’t take a moment, before he turns around and smiles in glee. In Chara’s voice he said, “ _Mom, Dad!_ ”

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What just happened? Rance persevered against Death's doors, Sans nearly killed Dianne for her brother's insults, and Asriel and Frisk are missing in action. Who was that person or monster, who disguised itself as what the warrior just described as 'Our Queen'? Deception that may have its reasons for them to disappear, and to throw them into a confusing situation. What will happen next? Stay tune, and be sure to comment what you think so far! And don't forget that this is an extra, that links WITH the main.


	12. [Trial by Darkness: Piece two]A 3-Day Vacation Work with the Flags: Day Two (part two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“So much have happened in the past, that it seems that happy endings only last long enough. But then again, every tragedy happens for a reason. All we can do is accept it and move on. Can you?”_ –Darvenshel Bastille

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here apologizing for the delay. Due to my Hard Drive getting corrupted, (and after fixing it) along with half my files, I was forced to rewrite everything. Not exactly how I wrote it before, but it's close. To compensate for the lost time, some ideas come and go and I added them there. I also added some fitting OST songs there, but like I once said. I do not OWN any of the songs, and this story is non-commercial. Thank you for your [ **PATIENCE** ], and enjoy reading.

                A piercing noise echoed through the mind, while everything was at a standstill. Time doesn’t seem to matter for what just happened, and it left the solders and the king in shock at the South City Gates. A vague memory keeps repeating: Frisk slamming her new metal Hobby Horse at anyone who tries to approach her, with eyes blackened, and pupils dyed in ruby. It keeps ringing, that King Farlon approaches, only to stand back from a relentless upward swing. Until a shadowy figure of a woman in gown, with a circlet crown on her forehead. From the shadow it reveals a darkened for the Queen, Frisk’s mother.

                Darkness envelops figure; her long hair and braided front, while eyes gray and red. A dead expression from the woman on her queenly white, red and brown majestic gown. Jewelries that should sparkle fail like a glossy coal. A pendant with a logo of the Alpha Guard, and on her hands are her Elvenwood bow and arrow, naturally made by hardwood carved into a nature forest pattern. It’s not like for her to draw her weapon at her people, was it ever possible for her to come back from the dead? King Farlon was in shock, and so are his men.

                An embrace from the Queen to her child, while Frisk drops her metal plaything. She whispers something, and brought a malevolent chill. Rance arrives, just to see a shadowy figure give her bow and arrow to Frisk. An insidious smile, while both of them looks at the human king. Frisk holds the bow and pulls the arrow and the string, aiming at her own father. No one is moving, as if they were statues frozen in anguish. The civilians are not there to see what is happening, nor can they do something about it. South City is more composed of people who would keep things to themselves than to help one another.

                Rance was different, as he cries out “Frisk, no! **That’s not your mother!** ” he picked up a stone and threw it directly at the ghastly imposter. The stone went through, while it gives a menacing grin similar to Chara’s. Frisk took aim and fires directly at the King. It was clear that the warrior’s words wouldn’t reach anyone; they were stuck in a delusional trance that might have been made by the false queen. “Frisk…King Farlon…” Rance blocks the way, but his actions were a second too late. The arrow was held back with a hand, but the tip had already pierced his heart.

                Another one was fired without hesitation, but Rance pulled his without a second thought and used it to block the way. He gritted his teeth in pain as blood starts to gush for a while, and with a swing, he broke his arrow, only to redirect the other to the ground. “P-poisoned?!” Rance realizes it, just when his body starts to tremble. He looks back, only to see that Frisk and the fake queen are already gone. He turns around and clenched his hand on his wound to slow down the bleeding. “Your majesty…” he could see that King Farlon and everyone else are too frozen to respond. Without hesitation, he thinks of looking around the Capital one last time, but the enemy was an unknown person.

                Instead, he blurs away and made a call. He continues to jolt his way to a nearby hospital but the toxin was spreading faster than he could expect. With a few cough, he calls his sister for help; his footwork is starting to slip, as one instance he fell flat on the roof with his chin slamming to it, thanks to Sans’ response. But regardless, he was able to throw the phone up and made sure it didn’t pick up that sound. The vein in one hand had already numb, as he forced his shoulder up and support his phone to his ear, while staying strong with his right hand.

                It didn’t take long before he was able to reach the West City Hospital. His ears have already gone deaf, but he continues to talk. His eyes were becoming dim, as the poison had already invaded his veins, and from where he kept walking, he slipped and almost fell to the floor thanks to the blood he poured. The last receiver heard his struggles, but he couldn’t tell what it was saying. It didn’t take long before his is giving in, with the small glimpse to see the color of the white room go gray. Doc Mercy’s figure could be seen, checking his vitals. But before his last blink, he saw two people behind the doctor.

                “…mom…dad…I’m…sorry…….”

* * *

 

                A lot of things have happened at the Human Capital for King Farlon and his soldiers. But it was never went delivered to the public. No one else should know about it, but Rance was the only one to open it up to King Asgore, and it was no laughing matter. Knowing what it was would lead to an even greater confusion, other than the sudden appearance of the man who speaks in hands. The situation involved the two: Asriel and Frisk. A sudden loss of consciousness for the soldiers and the king himself, an attack, a planned assassination? No one could tell, and the only witness is by Death’s door.

                The northern part of the Monster Capital that leads into a forest is where they asked to meet up, but it only involves very few people. A team of 7 than an army; Asgore knows what mistake he did when he sent his sentries to scout the unknown, only for them to return bewildered like rabid dogs a few days after. Frisk went missing after the confrontation somewhere at the Human Capital, and Asriel went off on his own. A sudden action from both at the same day, did they plan this attempt to sneak out of their home capital and went so far as to hurt someone in the process? That’s highly unlike them.

                It left those who knew a big question mark, but with what’s happening at this day, they could only pin the blame on Flowey. A flower monster with no feelings, nor care for others’ sake. Did he manipulate them? That’s one gaping question that needs to be answered. King Asgore, Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and Gerson have went to the far north outside the walls, accompanied with Darvenshel, Dianne, Seven, and Giga to meet up with King Farlon and the blonde militant.

                Everyone else in the Monster Capital would want to join in the search, but what happened to the dog sentries became a lesson for the monster king that something terrible is out there in the woods. “I do not think that it is mandatory for you two to come along.” Asgore said to the gunman and the lionman. It’s supposed to be their free day to be together in hopes of recovering the emotional stress Seven went through, but instead, “We want to redeem ourselves for what we didn’t do.” He said with confidence, with eyes clear with no doubts. Giga couldn’t agree more, but the risk of his adopted son becoming bewildered makes him hesitate.

                Toriel turns to the lionman and asks him, “Will you allow him to go with it, will you not?” A sound of concern, while she clutches onto her shoulder. “ **I don’t want to spoil him, but if this is what he wants for the day, then I cannot stop him there.** ” It was an unreasonable answer, but he’s going along with it. “I can’t leave both of you behind.” Dianne states with eyes glimmering with determination. “Not with what happened back then. I wouldn’t allow that to happen again.” She recalls what happened to them from the previous Gaster Abduction. King Farlon and the blonde militant arrives on a horse. “We can’t have too many people coming in and out of the forest. Not under this situation.” He states, especially with what he just heard from King Asgore.

                South comes down first, “As of now, we can only say that 6 people will participate in the search. Any more than that will put the rest on jeopardy.” A commanding tone from her never seems to waver whether she is with her own people or others. “Who the hell are you?!” Undyne rudely asks. An eye for an eye for both of them to appear, “I would like to ask you the same question!” she went to reply with an aggressive tone. Both of them approached one another and are about to engage, but Seven intervenes in between with a shove for both of them.

                “You two can fight later, we have a situation we need to consider first!” he exclaims. “The young one is right you know..!” Gerson walks to the two, and slams his walking stick to both their heads before laugh-coughing like an old man. “You two need to cool off, unless you want to be left burned out.” Undyne clicks her tongue while she rubs her head, and South bothered to glare at the elder monster before walking away. “Fine.” A bitter edge from her could only mean something. “As of now, there are already four out of six who will be joining us in our search.” King Farlon states while he’s with King Asgore, Darvenshel, and Toriel.

                Sans, Papyrus, Seven, Giga, Dianne, Undyne, Gerson, and South are left out. A decision was made while a quarrel was occurring and it caught the blonde militant off-guard. She couldn’t respond back, since her mood was enraged, but Undyne was just the same as the other, that she wasn’t made part of the decision. “Asgore, let me in the search party! I’ll chop down every tree to look for that bra—“ Gerson hits her on her stomach with his walking stick, “Hush now, urchin! Be careful what you say…” from a jest tone to a cranky old man tone. “Undyne, I need you to manage the monster capital’s security to its maximum while we are absent.” The monster king commanded, “Van Rose, I know you want to take part on this expedition as much as possible. But I need you to lead the defenses while we are away.”

                She couldn’t mutter a word back to her king, and understood what he really want her to do. “… Who will accompany the four of you?”

[Seven Gears] [Giga Lionheart] [Dianne Vor] [Van Rose Valentines] [Undyne] [Gerson] [Sans] [Papyrus]

                Toriel looks at Dianne for a moment, thinking that if her speed and ability to scout could cover the ground faster than expected, but Darvenshel can’t agree with that. “Young Dianne was one of the near victims of the village’s ritual. She may not have been traumatized, but whatever is in there might give her one.” A comment from the green tank, before he looks at the lionman and the gunman.

                Gerson would be a good addition with his experience in the open field, but who will look after Undyne while they take care of the Monster Capital? King Farlon looks at the skeleton brothers; their power could help level the field just in case any [ **FIGHT** ] would occur, but Asgore shook his head with ears flopping. “Sans is not fit for the search.” With what he just did to him, his option to even [ **FIGHT** ] and [ **ACT** ] have not yet recovered yet. Papyrus can leave his brother alone for the moment, but King Farlon still hates his voice.

                The last option are the two, but there’s a chance that they might go rogue. Their intentions are still questionable; despite that they are capable of doing great things. Time is running out, and whatever is happening in the forest or that village might lead to both their children’s demise. “We’ll go…” The man with the guns just declared, and everyone else turns their attention to Seven. “We can’t trust you with them. Not only were you able to get into the city with an illegal monster, but your actions are still questionable!”

                With a boot step and a ground tap of her end metal sheath, she exclaims “If you want to prove something, then prove to us right now, that you can be trusted!” She is putting up a show, that puts the rest on edge. Dianne trusts him enough that he has something, but South is emphasizing the whole situation. She has to do something about it, before they expand anymore time. [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6l3e1QHIVk)] The argument revolves on them, as Seven repeats himself: “I can go help look for them.” He points his finger to the lion man, “But only if my dad, [ **Giga can come]**.” Undyne aggressively argues, “We can’t trust both you.” she clenched her hand up with a sight of her teeth, “What [ **you two did** ] makes it questionable!”

                Giga shuffles his hair mane over his head, they’re bringing the past situation up again. “ **We keep telling you, we didn’t do it!** ” he puts both of his hand paws off his head and lets them off in front of them, “ **We [don’t remember] any of that!** ” Dianne steps in, “That’s right. Gaster took control of them back then!” she sweeps her right hand to the side and emphasize to them, “Sven wouldn’t [ **betray anyone** ] for a reason!” Gerson rubs his long hair chin while one eye is closed in thought, “Giga has a clear conscience from what I can tell.”

                He points up with an idea and a joyful expression; an idea pops into his mind, “They can help them, but someone has to [ **keep tabs on them** ].” All four saw an agreeable statement with their eyes glinting at the statement [ **keep tabs on them** ]. King Farlon and King Asgore said in unison, “ **I can agree to that!** ” Dianne noticed a pattern in the debate, which reminded her of the game they were playing yesterday. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6l3e1QHIVk)] King Farlon spoke first, “If you really want to help us, I will not have any issues unless you do something suspicious. And when you do…” He unsheathes a part of his rapier, revealing an onyx black blade. Darvenshel didn’t realize it soon just from the hilt, which has a different pattern.

                The gunman’s hands shaken a little while his fear strikes him, and Sans noticed it. He remembered what Dianne said about his brother using a ‘black weapon’ means ‘a planned execution’; he didn’t expect the king would be bringing one just in case. Giga was able to grasp the sudden fear his adopted son had felt, and immediately went to his side. “Not to worry, as long as you fulfill your role and vow, you are going to be alright.” He sheathes the weapon back in. Seven clenches his hands into a fist, with eyes determined- they are still light blue.

                The monster king had no grasp of what the black rapier would mean, but the fact that it struck fear to the human gunman made him think if he has plans of killing someone. Toriel looked worried for a moment, while the hint of the human king’s weapon could only mean something violent. As for the rest, everyone kept quiet with different thoughts flowing into their head. Undyne grits her teeth with a quiet snarl, knowing it like the back of her hand it could only mean someone’s death. Papyrus would’ve commented something loud, but he remembered what happened when he spoke while Farlon was within range.

                Dianne rushes to Seven’s side while taking his hand with hers. “Everything’s going to be alright, Sven.” She wants to give him hope, and a reason not to stray from his words. Her grip on his hand tightens a little, but it doesn’t mean to squeeze until it hurts. He places his hand over to hers, and nods with a faint smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t back down on my word.” Giga looks worried that they might not come back. “ **But for the sake of redeeming our names and standing in the society… We have to do something about this.** ” He’s keeping a positive vibe, regardless of the situation they are in.

                The rogue nods with joy, knowing that the gunman will come back gives herself a better reason to persevere. They lean in their foreheads with their eyes closed for a moment, and then both had let go of their hands. A hand wave to say goodbye, before all six of them have departed to the forest. Undyne approaches Dianne, “So… He’s your boyfriend?” an awkward question for the others, and she nods with a gleeful reaction. She’s brimming with hope that they come back alive.

* * *

 

                Deep within the forest, the leaves crackle as they move forward. The gunman and the lionman are in between the monsters and the humans. Toriel is concerned that the men are being too cautious and quiet about the two’s movements. “So, for how long have you took care of young Seven?” she asks nicely as they walk past a large root. Giga turns his head and answered, “ **I looked after him for 11 years.** ” He turns back to where they are going, while Seven turns around walking backwards. “Really? I thought it’s 10 and a half.” The lionman looks at him, “ **Don’t walk backwards, please. And you were completely depressed for the first half of the year.** ” He gives a light reminder, while the gunman looks up and notices that the sunlight is getting dimmer.

                Darvenshel looks back while Asgore looks at front; Giga and Seven seem to act like they’re not in a bind, while Toriel could only brush her hands below her lip and lightly chuckle. “You really care for him, do you not?” Giga’s ears bend a little to his head mane in shy. They proceed while fog entrances to them the further they journey to their destination. Darvenshel carries out a flashlight and attaches it to his pickaxe crossbow, while Toriel lights up a ball of fire on her palm of her hands. The further they go, the less leaves they step on. It’s becoming strange, as their footsteps became more quiet.

                “That is strange. The humidity should be warm not to produce a thick fog.” King Farlon states, while his breathing becomes visible. Giga and Asgore looked around. They huddle up to prevent getting lost, while the silence becomes more unbearable. The lionman sniffs the air for a moment, and then whispers to everyone, “ **I can smell two familiar scents… One is Asriel, and the other one…** ”  It was no mistaken for them that the other is Frisk. “ **I don’t know who the other one is, but they are close.** ” Darvenshel felt something was watching them. He looks around, but the thick fog won’t even let him see if they’ll hit a tree.

                There were no leaves on the ground, and from where they are going looks like a clean road. It is not pavement stone, but the dirt is hard like clay. A destination with no sense of direction is where they are heading. “Uhm, guys…?” Seven points as he asks; a silhouette of a child that is familiar to the four. She was running away with no sound. “Frisk!” The two kings and the caretaker had shouted in unison, as they start running to the figure’s direction. The rest didn’t hesitate to follow, or else their group might separate into two.

                They ran without looking around them, only because the fog would get in the way if they delayed. Until they reach the end of the forest, with the skies gone dark. [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAp2QQPauv0)] It suddenly became night time, and somehow time became more confusing to them. The stars were dyed in red than the usual white or yellow. They’ve arrived in an abandoned and misty village- Abundant Life Village. Houses that seem broken enough to crumble if Darvenshel outweighs the floorboards, a water well that was deep and dried, a watch tower far north with a broken bell, and several more that are likely a century old. Some of the walls were vegetated with fungi and such, while the ground itself is dry for grass to even grow.

                There’s a patch of flowers on the middle of the village, that became dull and gray with depression and death. King Asgore and Toriel felt dreaded by the fog, that was not as thick as the one outside the village. While King Farlon and Darvenshel felt that something is out of place. “This place… should have been burned down to the ground.” The green tank implies while sweat drops from his temple. “It should have.” The human king continued.

                Everyone turns to the two’s attention. “What do you mean?” Toriel asks. Farlon hesitates as he ponders. “12 years ago, after Dianne testified the horrible truth behind this village’s ritual actions, I have notified their chief to stand down from their traditions. But they refused, and went so far as to put up substitute children in her and Rance’s place.” He walks forward up to the patch of gray flowers. “We acted soon, and rescued the children and their parents. But they didn’t back down without a fight.” [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAp2QQPauv0)]

                “In the end, we executed them for their crimes. **All of them**.”

                The atmosphere became grimmer, and the thought of him mercilessly slaughtering all of the people with the aid of his men, in rescuing a family or two. All he could do is look down and look at the dreadful flowers, while Giga and Seven were grip in fear. “I know this is too much for you to bear. But know this: those people who were going to be put in such acts were all innocent, unaware of what they will be put to. While those people, had a strong belief in something, for them to select and …” 

                A sound of a child crying could be heard somewhere. It sounded like a young girl at the age of 10 or less. A distress that can be mistaken for a trap, as the king had just confirmed that no one should be living here. Without hesitation, King Farlon immediately made an assumption that it was Frisk, as he runs to one of the farmhouses. Everyone else followed, “Wait!” Seven says, as he runs with them. The door was slammed open, but the hinges didn’t break. Dust immediately fell from the ceiling, while the cobwebs were torn.

                A child was crying at the corner. “Mom, dad, please… Help me!” with sobs and sniffles from her, the human king approaches the child. “Frisk, my daughter. Is that you?” A sound of concern and confused, but when the rest saw the figure it wasn’t her just by the shirt and skin color; It was Chara. The goat monster parents suddenly ran to her aid “Chara!” she doesn’t seem to mind, while she continues to cry on the corner. By the time the gunman and the lionman entered the house, the door slammed on its own. Everyone turns around with a surprised glance. “… We didn’t slam the door closed.” Seven points out with a poker face, and just outside the house, someone threw a rock on the window.

                [[song starts here](https://soundcloud.com/hydromaniacmonotonic/to-aru-kagaku-no-railgun-s-ost-time-limit)] The glass shatters, while the view from outside is slowly becoming orange. An angry mob could be heard from outside with pitchforks and torches, while some parts of the old walls were starting to burn on its own. Darvenshel leans by the wall near shattered window, and gives a glance. King Farlon unsheathes his rapier from its scabbard while Seven unloads his twin revolvers from its holsters. With a glance, they saw the villagers demanding that the child comes out, while a pair of people were hung on a tree, with their bodies burning.

                “Oh my god.” Seven saw them, reminding him of his parents. Asgore looks back, only to see the despair-inducing deaths of Chara’s parents. The monster king grinds his teeth as he clenches his hand into a fist; this is what she meant on the letter she wrote. Just as when Toriel was about to brush crying child’s hair, she runs to the other room, while crying out of desperation. “Chara, my child. Wait!” Toriel stood up as she suddenly tries to reach to her. The house was falling apart, faster than usual. The house was supposed to be old in the first place, Darvenshel assumed.

                The human king and the green tank were about to storm the crowd, but Asgore pleads to them, “Chara, our child has run away to the other room. We must save her first!” Giga claps both of his hands together, and chants few words. A gust of wind revolves into a sphere, and acted like a vacuum to suck away the fire. Strangely, the flames were not affected by the wind, “ **What the-!** ” The ceiling was about to collapse on him, but Seven pulls him back by the tail. Like a sudden jolt of pain rushed through the lionman’s body, with a ridiculously painful expression and twitching movements, he turns around irritated. “ **What was that for—** “ This time, the gunman pulls the lionman’s wrist as they evacuate to the other room.

                They ran from one room to another, following Chara as she runs away. Skipping the infernal scenery while more villagers throw rocks at the windows. A commotion filled with so much hatred and anger that it couldn’t be summarized into words; there were too many to be understood. One rock that was thrown was heading for Seven’s eye, but Darvenshel blocks with his armored body. “You shouldn’t let your guard down, kid!” He said in warning. With no time wasted, they got out of the house from the backdoor where Chara fled. [[song ends here](https://soundcloud.com/hydromaniacmonotonic/to-aru-kagaku-no-railgun-s-ost-time-limit)]

                As soon as they passed through the doorway, the lighting had switched too sudden. “What the?” King Farlon coughs out. They look around the environment, and saw the sun was close to orange, just about to rise from the horizon. “What is going on?” From a sudden nighttime, to morning. They look back at the house they were in, and it was already burned down. The rest of the houses looked like they were maintained, while the ground itself was covered with green grass. They went back to the middle of the village, and saw that the flowers were golden. “This is… A recollection magic!” Asgore realizes.

                “Does that mean, that we’re seeing this village’s past?” Darvenshel asks, but he looks at the others. They were covered with black smoke marks, while Giga’s tail is still twitching in pain. “ **You don’t need to pull my tail, you know that!** ” he scolds the gunman, as he could only scratch the back of his head with an unreasonable sorry expression. “Sorry, dad~ But you were busy trying to extinguish a non-existent wildfire.” Seven points out.

                It felt too real for everyone else, since the heat was also getting into them. Just as when they were about to discuss what just happened, they noticed a familiar monster from the village’s entrance. They took a closer look without moving away, and the three recognized who it was almost immediately. Asriel’s adolescent form, wearing a robe similar to Toriel’s, while carrying a body of a child. The goat monster parents ran to him, crying his name. But Asriel didn’t even bat an eye, or even noticed them as he passes to the patch of golden flowers.

                Asgore and Toriel were frozen in anguish, as they saw who the child was. “…Chara…” King Farlon said out loud. The monster lays down the body of the child, and out of nowhere, a villager cries in fear. “A monster!” Giga looks around, and starts to notice that more humans have come out of their homes, with sickles and other sharp objects, ready to attack. Asriel was also ready to fight back, with eyes filled with vengeance and hatred. “No, stop!” Toriel cries out, trying to come to her son’s aid. King Farlon tries to fight the crowd, along with Giga with his bare hands.

                They were just illusions of the past, which can never be fixed. Their attacks and struggles to prevent them from attacking the goat monster was all for nothing. They stabbed, throw whatever they had, and made him bleed. Asgore casts a firewall, but the illusions went through. Giga once again clapped both hands, but this time a cyclone has formed around them, with a force that blows away anything else from his radius, but it didn’t do anything at all. What they saw wasn't self-defense, it was **pure execution**.

                Asriel can only endure, without ever fighting back. Something was holding him in place, and with Seven taking notice of where the goat monster was looking, he turned to that direction: three kids were watching in fear. A wave of fire bursts around him, that forces the angry mob to withdraw. All he could do is go back to where he went, and fled with severe number of wounds. “Asriel!” A mother that could only cry out, while a father that trembles to the ground in deep shock. It became a realization that those people were far worse than what they had in mind.

                King Farlon and Giga could only come to them, and comfort them however they can. While Darvenshel and Seven were looking around, restlessly. Time seems to move fast on its own, until the village itself returns to its decayed form. The whole scenario has returned to its former self, while all the Dreemurrs could do is cry at the moment. “Guys…?” Seven calls out to everyone, and noticed something was different.

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAp2QQPauv0)] The patch of grey flowers, now had a corpse of a young child, with Asriel mourning in front of it. The body was skeletal and was burnt black, while the gunman takes a look at the crying goat child. It looked like Toriel, but his voice was a young male. A young, fluff of a goat monster, kneeling in front of the patch while crying to his exhaustion. “This is getting insane. I need to call backup.” King Farlon could barely understand the situation, as he takes out his phone, and calls someone.

                “…………..” There was no response. Upon closer inspection, there is no signal bar indicated on his phone. While time suggests that lunch hour had just passed. The whole place is under a magical illusion for it to shift into different times. “Woah!” Seven jumps back in surprise when a flower sprouts underneath Asriel’s feet. It shows a creepy skull-like expression, before it reverts back into something that seems cute and harmless. Giga pulls away his step-son from harm, while the two humans look back as they comfort the parents.

                A flower monster that looks at them, idly absorbing the despair the two monsters are taking up. “ _Oh cut the **drama** already! It already happened, it’s not like crying like babies will do anything!_ ” the flower irritably suggests. The gunman looks down and takes a closer look at the talking flower. It suggests facial expressions, but it seem to have a flat head figure to even have a deep mouth. “ _Howdy, I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower!_ ” A strangely-warm, yet cheerful greeting. King Farlon and Darvenshel sees the flower for the first time, and to them they sensed a great danger from a tiny flower.

                “Seven, Giga, get back!” The human king instructs them both, while the gunman and the lionman did as instructed. “ _Wow. From puppets of mine, to puppets of them._ ” It ponders for a moment, while itching its middle with an extended leaf, “ _Strange. But no matter. Oh~_ ” Flowey looks further, and sees the rest of them. It ignored what Farlon just said, while muffling the crying goat child with a vine. Asriel doesn’t seem to care, for him to ignore the tight grip the flower monster just did. “ _Hush now, my poor traitor._ ”

                “So this is the flower, the one that has been disrupting the peace.” Darvenshel felt like snarling with anger disgust, for it to put a tight leash on the young Dreemurr. “ _Oh really~?_ ” A sarcastic question. “ _What peace do you have in mind, for YOUR kind to do such terrible acts? I mean, they drove a human child to a monster-filled world. Had taken control of a monster prince for vengeance. Only for THIS idiot to ruin it ALL._ ” An exaggerating jest, while pulling Asriel’s neck. He starts to choke painfully, while another vine gags his mouth.

                Farlon steps in with his rapier unsheathe, and was about to slash the vines. But Flowey shifts the angle a little, to make sure the human king hits Asriel’s ear. It’s using the victim as a shield. “ _Temper, temper. Your majesty! You don’t want to hurt poor little Asriel here, now would you?_ ” It taunts and aggravates everyone who is standing. Seven draws out his silver revolver and points at the flower’s base, but it hides behind the pitied goat monster. “ **Seven, no! You might shoot Asriel!** ” Giga cries out. His parents have snapped back to reality, when they heard the lionman mentioned their child’s name.

                In their turn, they see him being used as a shield, gagged and strangled with vines. A tormenting action made by the flower monster, which almost made them lose control. “Give us back our child, **you monster**!” Toriel cries out loud in desperation. “ _Me, a monster?_ ” It points its leaf to its stem, while making an expression. “ _Haven’t you two looked in a mirror?_ ” Asgore could explode at any moment, but he tries to calm down. “What do you want?” his only question. A light chuckle from the captor, while it makes a menacing expression. “ _I want you all, to **kill one another**_.” An ominous suggestion, which made everyone’s eyes widen in shock.

                “What made you think we’ll do that?” Darvenshel protests in question. “ **What reason would you want us to kill each other?** ” Giga adds up with his hand clenched into a fist in front of him. “We won’t give in to your demands!” Seven exclaims. The flower monster felt silent for a moment, before chuckling out loud. “ _What reason? You ask? Why don’t you ask them?_ ” It tightens its grip further, while the goat child doesn’t struggle. His eyes were devoid of life, as if he doesn’t even care anymore. It’s putting the Dreemurrs in a desperate situation.

                “My child!” Toriel could only reach out, as her eyes were succumbing to despair. Asgore tries to fight it, but his son’s life is in peril. “ _Of course, we haven’t forgotten that one other brat. Say hi to your father, Frisk?_ ” from inside a rundown house, the human child comes out with no particular expression. She doesn’t seem to be alright, and she has her mother’s bow and arrows behind her. King Farlon couldn’t bear to hold his emotions when he saw his daughter unharmed. But her expression, is similar to someone who doesn’t even care. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAp2QQPauv0)]

                Darvenshel felt something wasn’t right. The situation of the Dreemurrs, versus the situation of his king. An unfair situation, where the humans gain something, while the monsters suffer for it. “My old friend, that is not your daughter at the moment!” he warns the king. Seven couldn’t relate to the situation at hand, but as the green tank states, he realized what was wrong. “Stop this, Flowey! Putting them in this situation…” Three of them were being dyed with confusion of bliss and despair, that any moment a killing would occur. [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4qdpiad_Q0)] The gunman unloads his bronze revolver, and fired at a watch tower’s second floor wall.

                The bullet ricochets back, far enough to cut off one of Flowey’s vines. “ _What the—_ “ It didn’t see the bullet coming, as it bounces toward the shooter. He fires another bullet again, and the two clashed forcing them to bounce in different directions. A bullet breaks a dead plant’s pot, and made an acute angle rebound towards one of Flowey’s vines again, specifically the one that was strangling Asriel’s neck. The other bounces to the middle of a four-glass window, the wooden part, and does a reverse acute angle rebound, striking down the other vine that is gagging the goat child.

                Each bullet sounded metallic, as one clanks to slowly snap the deluded people back to reality. The bullets continue to ricochet at different places, and all of them are cutting down the vines that grabs hold of the victim. It was too precise and ridiculous, until he fires one more shot. Three bullets stormed around the village, confusing the flower. “ _What is this? What is going on?!_ ” Even it couldn’t predict where the bullets were heading. Until all three random bullets converged into grinding the flower monster’s middle. Two bullets have ripped the vine that binds the body, while one last bullet bounces toward Frisk’s hip.

                The goat monster was freed, as he fell into the flower patch, crushing the burnt corpse with his back. While the bullet that struck the human child made a loud clang. The bullet bounces back, while a part of her pants revealed something shiny. “ **A knife?!** ” Giga saw it clearly. A worn dagger that was hidden in her pocket. If her father were to have rushed to his daughter, then she might have stabbed him with it. “ _How…dare…you…_ ” the flower with a hole on its left eye, while just under its mouth was gaped with a hole. Dust starts to flow out of its damaged frame, while it could only retort to that.

                “ **You underestimated us.** ” Seven said, with his eyes glimmer in light blue, as if he had been waiting for the right moment to strike. His words were short and simple, but the Dreemurr parents felt something odd about it. “Huh?” Toriel’s eyes sudden turned back to normal. Asgore’s anger suddenly dispersed, and barely fell on the ground. “Golly, what just happened?” He looks down, holding his head for the moment. “I… heard gunshots. And then, I just realized that I was not thinking right.” He shook his head with ears flopping. “I… heard them, too.” Toriel adds while she held her temple.

                King Farlon also seem to have stepped back for a moment. “ _This is…_ ” Flowey couldn’t believe what is happening. Wind suddenly blows from behind, and as it looks back, the wind shredded the flower without hurting anything else. Like knives repetitively cutting down the flower, and only the flower. Giga bows down with his tail whipping at the human king’s face. “ **You will need a breath of fresh air.** ” He suggests, while the converging wind that shredded the flower, became a healing touch to the rest.

                A shroud of black aura reveals itself unto the four, excluding Giga and Seven. The wind that was produced by the lionman drove away that black aura, like dust. The fatigue that became the aftershock of both Asgore and Toriel was relieved, and the anxiety that Farlon and Darvenshel had felt was cleared. The green tank could only guess that it was the lionman’s doing. “Thanks, Giga.” He could only say. The wind also blew towards Frisk, and just like the rest, a black aura revealed itself in a figure of an adult woman.

                The young child fell in his knees, as the figure of the arrows, bow, and the hidden knife faded into dust. Those tools were from the false queen, and it disappeared along with the malevolent aura. The shadow lets out a tear, before it starts to dissipate. King Farlon saw it, and felt that it really was his wife. Her soul must have been driven back by some unknown entity, and took over her own child for the bad things her husband had done to her child. “Falma…” He tries to reach out, while the figure tries to do the same. But the soul turns to black dust. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4qdpiad_Q0)]

                The flower was gone, and the dangerous aura that was converging around them calms down. [[song starts here](https://soundcloud.com/hydromaniacmonotonic/to-aru-kagaku-no-railgun-s-ost-tatta-hitotsu-no-houhou)] The parents had rushed to their unconscious children, and checks if they are alright. “Tori, Asriel is breathing!” Asgore tearfully said, while she comes to his medical attention. Her hands glow and healed the injuries the flower had made. Darvenshel and the king had come to check if Frisk would be okay. The father only brushed her face, but felt something was wrong. He looks shocked at the moment, and starts to check her pulse. Frisk’s body was dead cold, while her wrist doesn’t respond with a pulse.

                “Lion! We need your help here!” King Farlon calls out in desperation. Giga rushes to the child, and went to check her vitals. When it was confirmed that her pulse and heartbeat are dead gone, he claps both hands, and placed them unto her chest. “ **Young one, come back to us.** ” He prays with his eyes closed. Seven was curious what Asriel would be like, and takes a look for himself. In his approach, he could tell the resemblance of him and his parents. He shook his head in thought, ‘that should’ve been obvious!’

                Upon Toriel’s healing treatment, Asriel’s condition stabilizes. But as for Giga’s healing treatment, there was still no response from Frisk. “Frisk, please. Come back to us!” King Farlon’s eyes were drenching with tears; Darvenshel continues to safeguard them. Toriel heard the human king’s distress, as she turns around with fear. “What is happening to Frisk?” she suddenly jumps out to see what is happening on the other side, while Asgore comes to them, with their son on his hands. They pulled all their efforts to bring back the princess for an hour, but nothing has changed. Until Seven claps both hands, and tried to do the same as Giga, without his hands actually touching her body. “… Frisk, can you hear me?” His voice echoed, while his eyes glimmer in light blue.

                It didn’t take long before his hands also glowed the same color as his eyes. “Your parents, your friends. They’re all waiting for you to come back.” The four looked surprised, as if Seven had just revealed his true powers. Giga can feel something calm resonating in the gunman’s life force. “ **Seven…** ” Her fingers twitched for a moment. “It’s working. Whatever you’re doing, is working!” King Farlon felt hope when he said those words. It was a different feeling from Toriel or Giga’s healing magic. His SOUL revealed with a brilliance. The light dissipates, and then Toriel inspects her pulse. “She’s going to be okay. Your daughter is breathing. She’s is going to be okay!” Asgore could only smile, as King Farlon suddenly hugs Toriel out of joy. In awkward moment, he lets go and looks away. [[song ends here](https://soundcloud.com/hydromaniacmonotonic/to-aru-kagaku-no-railgun-s-ost-tatta-hitotsu-no-houhou)]

                Darvenshel sighs with relief, while Seven falls on his back with a feeling of exhaustion. “I don’t know how I did that, but I don’t think I’ll be able to pull that one again.” He felt like he could relax on the dead ground, but as he looks up the sky is still dark. With stars radiating red; he suddenly looks around. The fog hasn’t been lifted yet. Asgore looks down to his hands, and Asriel suddenly disappears. “What the—“ surprised that the goat child he was carrying is not there. He looks around, and saw him standing in front of the patch of gray flowers.

                The goat child’s eyes closed; his hands were clenched into a fist, with a serious and vengeful expression. The wind blows for a moment, until a familiar flower sprouts from the ground yet again, in front of Asriel. “ _Howdy! Did you miss me?_ ” That menacing voice broke the joyous expression from the group. “ _Did you really think that you could get rid of me?_ ” Everyone stood up and made a stance. “You cannot keep this up, Flowey. Asriel will not be played by your tricks!” King Farlon makes a brave statement, but the flower just chuckled.

                “ _Oh, Asriel won’t. But Chara will._” It sinks to the ground and never came back. They were left with a singular question: What does it mean when it said that? The serious expression from Asriel grins menacingly. A creepy smile from him is a different aspect. It took Asgore a second to realize what Flowey means. “Oh no.” He recalls that his son shared his body with her SOUL intact, and recalling what she did into controlling him made him shout out loud. “Chara, no!”

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETDqbzXz9A0)] Asriel opens his eyes, revealing it to be black and red. Flames envelop his frame, like a pillar of fire consuming his body whole. The patch of flowers was also burned to ashes as it escalates to the highest peak. The whole ground starts to quake, while the red stars start to circulate the sky. The fog loosens a bit, and in time the flames extinguish. Asriel’s body changed for the worst. His body changed into something completely unbelievable; his legs are gone and his arms are longer. He grew wings that hallucinates to different colors, while his chest became mechanical. Similar to Mettaton EX’s form, but it has a heart pulsing at the middle, and on his lower arms.

                Asriel roars out loud in his final form, while the stars converge according to his will. A bewildered screeching roar made the group cover their ears, while Frisk is fast asleep. “Asriel?! What happened to him?!” Darvenshel asks out loud, but Asgore and Toriel were just as shocked as everyone else was. “We do not know. We do not know he could do this!” The wind blows with an overwhelming pressure, and the heat it produces makes it harder for them to maintain their stance. “ **Asriel, Chara, you must wake up!** ” Giga cries out. He could feel that something inside the evolved body was sleeping. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETDqbzXz9A0)]

                “ **The children inside him are asleep. We must wake them up!** ” Seven nods to what Giga suggests. “My child, I do not want to harm you. But…” Toriel hesitates, but with a wave of both her hands, flames had come out of them. “We will bring ourselves to come to your senses!” She prepares for battle. “I cannot bring myself to hurt my son… But…” Asgore unleashes his red trident to his hands. “If you do not stand down, I will force you to!” He prepares for battle. “Asriel, Chara, Frisk. You are the future of both humans and monsters. You helped us in our critical need… And so…” He swashes the rapier out of its sheathe, and puts up a duel stance. “We will return you the favor.” The onyx black blade glimmers a white reflection, thanks to one of the stars that circulates the skies. He is ready for battle.

                “Asriel, I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone, regardless of what they do to you. You are kind and compassionate…” He switches the crossbow’s string into a slingshot, and loads in a number of medium-size marbles. “This will hurt me, more than it will hurt you. Please, forgive me. You need to wake up.” He readies for battle. “ **I sensed a great potential in you two. A hope that brings us together, and a Dream that can be realized.** ” Giga claps both hands, and the wind circulates into a small typhoon. As soon as it dissipates, a beautifully crafted bo staff appears, with the gold, orange, and blue colors mixed with a foreign traditional pattern in it. He grabs hold of it with one hand, spins it around him, and stops it with the length diagonally guarding his back. While his other hand is extended forward, like how a martial artist puts a stance. “ **We need you to come to your senses.** ” He prepares for battle.

                “… I’ve never met you, before. But I have a feeling that this is not like you.” Seven readies his guns. “In your form, our attacks won’t hurt us. But our [ **ACTS** ] to bring you back will!” He knew what everyone is going through, to do this to the very savior of the UNDERGROUND. [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB7qGy2n__c)] All of them are ready to fight, and with a last roar, the battle has begun. Stars fall down from the skies, and storms the village like a battlefield. But with efforts, the lionman deflects them with the swing of his bo staff. King Farlon coughs out blood for the moment, but his guard was not down.

                A giant flaming sword has form in one of the Final Form’s hand, and it swings toward the human king. Farlon swings his rapier towards it, and with the intensive critical pressure his swing did, cuts down the flames into a dagger. Another upward swing, and it created a triple clawed air slash, that made the ground’s rubble rise up towards the opposing monster. While it did nothing to him, Darvenshel fires his marble towards the central heart of the body, but it did no effect at all. The final form waves both hands, and several fireballs have fired towards them, but Toriel created her own swarm of fireballs and absorbs the attack.

                Some of the stars that were falling down stopped halfway, only for it to suddenly cause an electrical spark. “Everyone, take cover!” Asgore warns them; the stars created a massive lightning storm. Everyone did their best to avoid their attack, while the monster king put up the efforts to use his weapon as a lightning rod. His eyes glinted yellow, and the weapon turns yellow. All of the electrical force were redirected to him, as he grits his teeth in taking it. Asriel slams both hands to the ground, which leveled the ground and created large gaps around them. Darvenshel hurriedly rescues the unconscious child, while he single-handedly held his weapon and fires the projectiles.

                One of many marbles that missed hits the final form’s nozzle, and he roars out in pain. Giga jumps up high, and twirls his bo staff before hitting Asriel’s forehead. He retaliates with a screeching swipe of hand, which sent the lionman flying towards a tree. “ **Gahk!** ” His back against the hardwood made stunned him into a daze, before falling to the ground. More stars started to fall when the lionman is out of the game. Seven puts on his goggles that were above his head, and within them was a glint of light.

                “It’s high noon.” He said quietly. Without hesitation, he starts to shoot down the stars that were making its way to them, whether the bullets bounce off from one star to another, or whether it’s a direct hit, none of them made in contact. In a sudden reaction, he threw them high, and took out some bullets from his pocket dispenser. The revolvers unloaded themselves, while the empty shells come out. As soon as he had seven of them in each hand, he threw them into the chambers and closed the barrel.

                Giga shook his head awake from the sudden attack, and comes back to aid everyone else. They struggle, fight back, and do what they can to survive the impossible waves created by the final form. But all this time, they’ve been in defensive than offensive. Toriel continues to user her flame orbs to block away some of the attacks, while Asgore switches from a yellow trident to an icy blue. With a wave of his weapon, it teared down the incoming fireballs as they dissipate into an icy vapor.

                The stars that were falling down were being shot down by both Seven and Darvenshel, while Giga uses his wind magic to recover everyone’s health and stamina at the cost of fatigue. Whenever the Final form gains a chance to recreate a massive flaming sword, King Farlon is always there to dissipate it with his insane slashes. But the air cutting waves does not reach the monster. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB7qGy2n__c)] The final form said something that seem out of character.

‘’ _I want to see my parents again._ ”

                The attacks suddenly stop, when those words came out of his mouth that was composed of three unknown children. It continues.

“ _Mommy, Daddy._ ”                          “ _Mother, Father._ ”                            “ _Big Brother, Dad._ ”

“ _Why…? Why are we chosen?_ ”                   “ _We don’t deserve it…_ ”                  “ _They killed our parents._ ”

“ _We didn’t do anything wrong…_ ”              “ _Why are we being punished?_ ”  “ _They killed our parents._ ”

                They sound like they were suffering, asking the questions without seeking the answers. Their voices just echo, and repeat. One of them stands out, and it was Chara’s voice. “ _I just want to see my parents again._ ” Their fighting did not hurt the final form physically, but for some reason it jogged three more children awake from within. Toriel recognized their voices, as she dissolves her flames into nothing. “Mako, Herald, Tesla?” the names of the three children she ones fostered, and died by the hands of Asgore.

                Giga approaches the halted monster, and tries to read the hollow echoes that comes out of him. “ **I can sense five SOULS from within this vessel. All of them are children.**” Everyone was alerted that more were inside Asriel this whole time. But Asgore wonders if they had only merged with him when he went missing. They can’t tell, while the final form sobs. Everyone let their guard down for the moment to see what they can do, only for Asriel to join both huge hands together. A white light shines from it, and Seven felt the sudden dangers that was about to unfold to the lionman. Without hesitation, he shoves Giga away from the blinding light, and in turn he took a direct hit.

                Everyone else were unconsciously cleared from where the beam hits, but the gunman took it upfront. The attack slowly erased him, while his expression was shocked; his eyes wide open and his mouth gaping open. Afterwards, the beam ends with the final form idle once again. There was nothing left of Seven Gears, and Giga was left with eyes wide open and tears flowing out of them. No one could do anything, as they were just as surprised as Giga. “ **No… No, no, no no…!** ” the lionman could only crumble down, and sits to the ground in disbelief. He never knew that today was going to end tragically, for him to be able to be with and fight alongside his adopted son for the last time.

He couldn’t hold back from what he feels, as it just happened so fast for him. “ **Give him back….** ” He trembles with anger, before facing the final form with a confused state of mind. His eyes are filled with despair.

“ **Give me back my son!** ”

 -To be continued...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just when Seven Gears unleashed a newfound power, he ends up getting [ **ERASED** ]. A lot of details went to light for some of the characters, but the situation is still crazy as ever. Will Asriel and Chara come back, what will happen next after the sudden death of a major own character of the story? Or is he really dead? _Who knows_.
> 
> Regarding to the OSTs, I like to thank Zebu for allowing me to use the song for this particular chapter. I also like to thank the people who supported me up until now, that they gave me the right amount of [ **DETERMINATION** ] to continue, even after the sudden tragedy. And of course, I thank my very special fan for being there for me in writing this story.
> 
> On the side note, I referenced a Danganronpa Trial's Non-stop Debate if they are going to trust the Gunman and the Lionman. As well as adding McCree's quote from Overwatch to Seven's absolute focus shot. Now, why did I add some OSTs that are not really Undertale material? The scene and the song somehow matches with it, but if I'm going to get a warning for using them in an AU, then I'll change them in the future.


	13. [Trial by Darkness: Piece two]A 3-Day Vacation Work with the Flags: Day Two (part three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ _Reality itself can be an illusion… If not, then Illusion itself can be reality. It’s a matter of perspective._ ” – Lucky Gears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun feels too apologetic for the delays. But that doesn't mean that I'll stop writing. Here comes the next wave of feels, and the final part of Day two.

                Too much had happened for one day at the formerly known as the Abundant Life Village, and it’s no surprise when there are four sides in play. The humans, who had a bloody history at the very village they went to; the monsters, who just learned their adopted human child’s millennium dark history; a flower monster, who is somehow involved in all of it; and a pair of outsiders who just had a loss. Giga Lionheart, a lionman monster who begged to see his adopted human partner to be with for a day, was instantly [ **ERASED** ] in front of him, by one of the children they were going to save.

                Like a nightmare he couldn’t wake up, he couldn’t face the reality he just went through. His blue kind eyes, went to a blur; his thoughts and emotions are swirling out of control, eroding to a shade of despair. “Your son is becoming more of a threat than a symbol of hope!” Darvenshel argues with angry gestures. Asgore couldn’t comment, after seeing how easily a human was left no trace from that beam of light. Not only that, he recognizes the voice of children that just echoed from the final form. Toriel could retort that he didn’t mean to do it, but it doesn’t change the fact that Seven Gears was just killed.

                 King Farlon could only stare blank at how much power that was unleashed. A shock that one life was taken in front of him, while that a parent grieves at a loss. He could only look back to his daughter, who is still unconscious and safe at the hands of the green tank, with a thought ‘this is what Frisk had faced? This monster?’ A confusion is about to start, and the very confidence of bringing back Asriel Dreemurr is crudely mixed with indecision and confusion. A roaring demand comes from Giga as he takes up his bo staff at the final form.

                “ **Bring him back… Bring my son back, you monster!!** ” He jumps up and performs a somersault rod slam towards Asriel, but King Farlon intervenes with a use of his air cutting waves to block the attack. The lionman looks back with pure vengeance and hatred, that the kind and goodwill in him had been destroyed. A rapier held with both hands was switched to his right, before respond to the lion man. “Giga Lionheart, you must calm down for the moment!” the human king is trying to reason with him. “I don’t think it was intentional for him to…” King Farlon looks down with a doubt in mind. He still hopes that it was by accident, but not everyone could simply agree to that.

                Without hesitation, the lionman double jumps away from attack the final form and confronts the human king. “ **I will not take that to someone who just slaughtered a village full of humans!**” A vein twitched on the human king’s temple when he was accused of that. “Would you want those people to run around, kidnapping children and killing them off to some religious cult?!” He snaps back a retort as his eyes were dead locked unto the lionman’s. A black fog envelops him as rage builds up, while the wind around him is becoming more violent. Without warning, a giant hand hovers to Giga’s shoulders. Everyone’s attention flies back to them, only to see the final form will do something to him.

* * *

                “…….” A blank reaction, a shade of abyssal background that defines the void. Nothing is around, and no one seems to be there. “… I’m … dead, right? ….” Seven asks himself in gloom, without a care in the world. A sound only he could make, and soon the silence drowns everything into a lifeless existence. All he could do is close his eyes, without ever feeling anything. “… Don’t give up!” A young boy cheers from somewhere, and forces the gunman to open his eyes around the empty space. He fell into silence once more, and another cheer followed. This time, it sounded too familiar to him, a young boy in his pre-teen voice, calls out to him. “It’s not your time to die, yet!” Seven couldn’t believe what he’s hearing.

                A white human soul appears before him with an ever growing light, illuminating the void of darkness with great brilliance. “…. Lucky?” he asks the star of light. “Remember our promise, Seven. Wait carefully, it is not your time, yet.” A voice that is young and pure of heart spoke, like a dream that came by coincidence. “Lucky, I can’t believe it…” a voice trembling with several sobs. “You’re…..” it didn’t take long before the light illuminates brighter with greater brilliance, it was too bright that the dark room became a pitch white room.

                “Lucky, wait! Don’t go…!” he reaches out of the center light, trying to grab hold of the light that spoke to him. The light became a flash of an image; he’s back to the reality he once existed, and seeing his arm different from his own. Getting a hold of Giga’s shoulder with that arm strikes fear into himself. “Ahhh!” It’s still his voice, but the moment looks at his form, he realizes that he just took over Asriel’s final form. “Ahh! What’s going on?” he continues to look at his large arms, shifting from left to right repetitively, he suddenly pulls back a star on the sky.

                Seven in the final form, it also left everyone else flabbergasted. A star presents itself to his middle chest’s heart, like a magical mirror reflecting one’s true self, it shows 9 souls. “W-w-w-what is this?!” He panics as his hands are proportioned to the star, like making an orb levitate on thin air. One soul that is in the middle is purely light-blue, two half-shaded red revolves around the middle. The rest that are green, red, yellow, blue, orange, and violet are just empty colored outlines.

                “ **YOU…!** ” Giga roars with vengeance with an aggressive turn. He shows teeth with a growl; Asgore and Toriel rushes upfront and comes to the front. “Asriel, is that you? Have you come back to us?” Toriel pleads. The final form shook his head with a sad expression, and says. “No, it’s me. Seven.” He looks at his form once again, and couldn’t believe what he’s in. “ **…..** ” All of them either couldn’t believe what he just said, or are simply confused about the whole situation. “Dad, I—“ Before he could even ask what’s going on, the lionman slams the end of his bo staff to the ground with an aggressive tone of voice “ **Lies! If you really are my son, then prove it!”**

A doubt in mind is as toxic as a blind belief, and right now Giga doubts what the final form has to say. Seven thinks of what to do, and then options appeared before him:

[ **FIGHT** ] [ **♦ ACT** ] [ **ITEM** ] [ **MERCY** ]

                He tries to recall what memory he could share to prove that he is really Seven. With a quiet ponder, and a finger to the chin, he thinks carefully. ‘I got it!’ his light-blue color shines with an idea on his chest, and then confronts the lionman. “Giga, when it was my Birthday and as well as Christmas Eve years ago, I was going to commit suicide outside the Corvus Orphanage. But you suddenly stopped me, and threw away the knife I had. I couldn’t feel anything until you hugged and comforted me for half an hour. That was the first time I felt the warmth of someone who cared so much for someone else’s sake for the longest. Your warm hugs.” He smiles in glad with eyes tearing up.

                “ **Anyone could have known that. You weren’t aware that it was on the news!** ” Giga snaps back in disbelief. The touching mood was completely ruined, and it seems that Giga’s hands tremble for a few seconds, before he firms his grip on the weapon he holds once more. The final form frowns with both disappointment and irritation, that he adds a detail: “Last Sunday, I intentionally swapped your cup of tea with a cup of pure ‘Party Mayhem Vodka’ so that you wouldn’t ruin the party. And the last thing I remember was that you slept with one of our neighbors. She immediately ran out to her room when she found out that she was naked with your zipper pants open.” Arms crossed and a crack of smile, the lionman’s eyes widen in shock from a sudden revelation.

                “ **What?! Are you serious?!** ” he drops his weapon to the ground, as he fuzzily holds his head-part of his mane. His weapon dissipates and gusts out wind, like ice melting into water, slowly disappearing into nothing. “ **Oh no. What have I done! I am not ready for such a responsibility. I must apologize to that tenant—wait…** ” He realizes something. Only Seven knew about the apartment party at that day, and recalling the pictures of them, including everyone else who lived in that place were going party wild. No one else outside of that would’ve known, and the fact that Seven swapped his drink made him irritated towards the final form. “ **You intentionally switched my drinks?!** ”

                It’s unusual for the large monster who looks like he could end the world with a flick of his finger, to cover his mouth as he tries not to laugh. Like a comedic relief, he bursts out of laughter. “Ahahahaha!” It didn’t take long before Seven puts both hands on his gut and laughs out loud. A laugh that roared throughout the whole forest. “ **Seven, you son of a…. wait…** ” The lionman finally realizes something. The very monster he is currently talking right now is really Seven Gears. He wipes a tear from his right eye with a finger, and apologizes. “Ahahah… I lied about you sleeping with someone else. But at least, I got your attention, finally.” A glad tone of voice.

                “If you’re Seven right now, then what happened to …?” King Farlon raises a question. Asriel’s parents are also worried of what happened to their son and adopted daughter. “I’m not sure, really. I was drifting in a dark place, then someone pulled me back. And then…” Seven explains, with Darvenshel cutting him off with a continuation. “You’re here right now. This is going to be troublesome.” The final form looks back with a snap, “What do you mean by that?!” A beastly roar in question. Someone yawns from the back.

                On the green tank’s shoulders, Frisk stretches out with another yawn, without knowing what was going on. It took her a few seconds before she noticed the mayhem around them. “Huh?” Darvenshel lets her down, with one hand she sits on, and the other for holding her hand. Due to his large plating of armor, he is like a machine titan to kids. In his case, he is just heavily plated. King Farlon immediately rushes to his child, making sure that she’s okay. She looks up, to see Asriel’s final form.

                “…. Asriel? What’s going on?” Frisk asks with a confused look. In her last encounter with him, he took everyone’s soul in the UNDERGROUND to obtain that form, but she looks around to see five adults standing around her. She recognizes the lionman, but notices that he seems to be in pain. Lastly, the village they are in. “… Could it be, that you took everyone’s life in this village?” the gloomy atmosphere sums it up. But Seven is likely to disagree. The final form scratches the back of his head and looks at the side in shy. “I’m not Asriel… I’m Seven.” He moves the very hand that was at the back of his head to his front, with a thumb pointing at himself.

                The star in front of him glints the light-blue SOUL in the middle, while several half to faded color lights revolve around it. One of the half-red SOULS being seen in the star shifts from half-orange and half-violet, while the rest remains true to their singular color. Among all the others, the one that shifts from one color to another is upside down. “… I think, right now. You’re controlling Asriel’s body with your SOUL.” Frisk gives her thought. “Really? Then how do I give his body back?” Seven asks without thinking. He’s eager to get back to his body, but he didn’t see the consequence in it. “You don’t need to rush things, young Seven. Before we do that, we need to know how to deal with the raging monster in that body?” Darvenshel.

                “Also, who were those voices? They sounded like children in distress…” King Farlon can already tell that those were the children who were sent to the UNDERGROUND by force. King Asgore also felt like the human king already assumed of the outcome, but how and who? Everyone turns to the monster king and the caretaker. From a search mission for their children, to a confession. It was something they couldn’t share, but in their situation wherein Seven’s entirety was absorbed into Asriel’s final form, they were left without a choice.

* * *

                “……” Everyone was seated in a circle, while the final form floats on air besides the body’s mother, and the SOUL’s stepfather. Seven could barely stomach what King Farlon did to the villagers, and it made things worse when King Asgore told his story. Everyone saw what happened when Chara’s parents were burned and hung to a tree, and what they did to drive her to the UNDERGROUND; everyone else saw what they did to the transformed goat child, it wouldn’t make sense if his parents wouldn’t hold a grudge against the humans. But the deed was already done by the human king. Frisk wasn’t there to see the befallen tragedy of the Dreemurr siblings, but she had a feeling of remorse that.

                “It makes sense… Every one of you had a terrible history with this village. I remember a few months ago, when Dianne mentioned that two wolf monsters have befriended her, and saved them from a potential tragedy from a certain village’s ritual. I wouldn’t believe it because it was too farfetched. But somehow, it made sense.” Seven spoke while he glooms to his beating heart chest. “And then, the SOULS…” he grasp his chest, feeling a faint voice of words. All 8 were crying, including Chara and Asriel.

                Asgore looks at the final form, and then everyone else. “They disappeared, after Tori and the others stopped me, from fighting King Farlon’s daughter, Frisk.” Mentioning her name, the two Dreemurrs looked at her with sad eyes, but a glad smile. “… When Asriel felt everyone’s heart beating as one, he regains his ability to feel. He was Flowey when I first met him at the Underground. But after what everything had happened…” She recalled the death of King Asgore, the Omega Flowey, the mercy she gave to the soulless flower, and then the Amalgamates. When she realizes that Flowey was not what it seems, Asriel called her and brought an unexpected confrontation. “He released all of the SOULS he took, and broke the barrier.”

                Seven’s chest starts to pulsate in agony. The outline of SOULS started to beat faintly out of sync, while the faded ones are regaining conscious. The final form covers his chest with his teeth gritting in pain. “ **Seven, what is wrong?** ” Giga stood up and took notice, before everyone else could react. “Ghhhrk…” he groans, and then he stands upright with a different expression. A curious look from the final form, before he raises a hand, and said “Howdy, everyone.” Asriel’s voice echoed out, while from the star that reflects on his chest, the pure light-blue SOUL substitutes with the tri-colored monster SOUL. It was no doubt that Asriel had awoken.

                “Asriel!” The Dreemurrs cry in worry, as they approach him. The final form didn’t realize that his frame was bigger, until his parents have gone to his side in hopes to comfort him. Frisk walks close to Asriel and asks, “Asriel. Do you remember why you’re here? And in that form?” She sounds curious. “Golly, Frisk. No, I don’t. The last thing I could remember was, when Chara was crying, begging for me to lend her my body.” Frisk smiles without a care, and suggests something. “Let’s ask her.” Her soul shines in RED, **Determined** to know something. The final form nods his head with a gentle smile, and before long the tri-color SOUL switches with a half-ruby red SOUL.

                The final form’s eyes changed to the eyes similar to the ones attacking them a while ago. A piercing red color of eyes have taken over, but the presence of danger is not there. It didn’t take long before the final form stretches his arms out, and yawns himself awake. As soon as the sleepy eyes refocus, he notices that around him was destroyed. But the final form didn’t react, and looks at everyone. “ _Hello._ ” That’s all she could greet, without even noticing that Chara is on a different form. “Chara, is that you?” Frisk asks. With a turn to her, Chara greets back. “ _Hello, Frisk. What is it?_ ” Darvenshel and Giga were reluctant to stand guard, even when the danger around them isn’t yet present.

“Chara, why did you want to borrow Asriel’s body?” A quiet response for a few seconds, before she answered. “ _I…saw mom and dad, last night. And then, his body starts to tremble. I felt it, too…_ ” An illness, a memory, or a delusion. Giga asks, “ **Wasn’t that when I asked the King, if I could be with Seven?** ” He remembers that the goat child looked dazed for a moment, before he shook his head in recovery. “That was the time I helped Asriel get to bed.” Toriel agrees with the lionman. Frisk tilts down when she recalled feeling dazed at the Flower shop. “I… also felt dazed, and saw a familiar garment at the Flower shop yesterday… It looked like mom’s.”

                King Farlon, her father, looks at his daughter with alerted signs. That was when they were buying flowers for her mother’s death anniversary. “Why didn’t you tell me that?” Frisk shook her head and apologized. “I’m sorry. I thought I was just, feeling tired for sitting at the back of the car with the guards you have.” Darvenshel felt uneasy with them talking to the final form. “Asriel, Seven, whoever’s in there. Before we get to that, can you please turn back to your **original self**? I would rather not feel uneasy with your tremendous form.”

                “ **Also, can you bring back Seven? He was…** ” Giga was unsure that it would be wise for him to ask that question. “Oh, sure. But I will need to release these **SOUL fragments** , first.” Asriel took over the body once more, and answered their plead. The final form holds out his hands wide on the air, sideways. A beaming aura and a force of reckoning starts to rise up, as his ears started to flop up. The star that floats in front of him opens up a burst of colorful beam. It became a gateway out of the final form’s frame, as the SOULS burst out of the star. It was like a dream, a fantasy that seem to unreal, while all of the stars above starts to converge around and above his head.

                The red stars are taking form of human people, with eyes black as the void they attack the final form. “Ahhh!” Asriel cries out in pain, while the rest couldn’t stand by and watch as he struggles. “Those are the villagers of the Abundant Life Village!” King Farlon calls out. The red form villagers squirm on the final form as if they want to take over his body. The rest were ready to intervene with weapons unsheathe, magic fire ready, and a firm stance to attack; a gunshot fired out of the blue. They all paused; It alerted the malevolent SOULS that were attacking the final form. “That’s enough!” Seven’s voice calls out in light-blue ethereal and human form, with revolvers that are like him pointed towards one on the side.  A hiss from one of the red and black spirit, and the gunman fires without hesitation.

                It didn’t take long before that SOUL he shot fell on the ground, with its frame shattering. “Is that?” Asgore sees a black and red seed breaks from the villager’s SOUL’s neck, while its color reverts into a transparent gray. Soon, that SOUL disappears with a content smile on its supposed face. “Those villagers… They were infected with Flowey’s seed?!” King Farlon has come to realize when it was the same as the seed that shattered on Rance’s head a week back. “ **Seven, keep shooting them down! It will release the villagers from the malice they are trapped in!** ” Giga calls out. The gunman nods silently, without looking back, and starts shooting down one at the time.

                Frisk dashes forward without warning. “Frisk, stop!” Toriel cries out, before King Farlon says the same. They all followed, “Asriel, use your **Determination**!” that word echoed out of Frisk’s mouth, as her SOUL gleams in red. Asriel’s SOUL revealed itself in three colors, while Seven’s form shines bright in Light-blue. Giga’s SOUL revealed itself in blue, King Farlon’s SOUL turns yellow, and Darvenshel’s SOUL turns Light-Blue as well. “Everyone….” Asriel’s eye was pinched closed, before he forces the malevolent stars away from on. “I won’t give in. **I won’t let anyone despair!** ” Asriel’s voice echoed like Frisk’s, and suddenly Asgore and Toriel’s upside down SOULS revealed themselves. Both of them revealed two colors in one SOUL. Toriel’s SOUL are blue and light-blue. While Asgore’s SOUL are green and violet.

                Their SOULS light up like beacons, as well as their eyes and hands. It didn’t take long before they shone with brilliance, like beacons that illuminate the black and red aura. Gunshots, blade clash, and blunt weapons collide. The forest that shown nighttime in the sky breaks like a mirror. Their virtues and strengths combined forced the fog around the village to disappear, while the darkness within the villagers were free from black and red color.

                [[song starts here](https://soundcloud.com/animeost5lw/white-gloves)] Just as the light from the sky is about to break the illusion of a curse above, the beacons have stopped shining. Their SOULs faded in color, while the lost SOULS around them comes into the light before they disappear. Were they really evil for them to carry such rituals? Farlon could only ponder. It didn’t take long before 6 outline colored SOULS come and approach both Asgore and Toriel. They all floated silently, while the goat parents wonder why. Seven comes next as the 7th SOUL, but in human ethereal form. “They say that, they wanted to see you two. One last time…” the gunman said with guns faded into smoke trails to the sky, while putting both hands to his pockets.

                They look at them once more. Asgore falls on his knees, as he looks down on the ground. “I…I did this…” he sadly admits. “I shouldn’t have taken your SOULS.” He feels guilty and sad for the regretful things he had done to them. “If I… could have just let it go, then…” he trembles with tears dripping off from his eyes. Toriel comes to his side and comforts the monster king. “No… It’s not your fault, alone… I am, also responsible for their…” she starts to shaken as well. “If I could have just…“ The gunman sympathize with them. “… It’s not your fault.” He says while the energy forms around him starts to dissipate.

                “You two were simply gripped with grief, because both of you lost both your children. You couldn’t forgive yourselves that you did these things… But it’s not too late.” He smiles with glad, with sadness in his eyes. Seven recalls how much his parents have cried, before they left him in the orphanage. “We saw how much you cared, how much you wanted to want to prevent it from happening again.” As if the gunman himself was the eldest among the group, he stood alone in the middle. Each SOUL starts to manifest into human forms, and then they all start to hug the Dreemurr parents.

                It was faint, but all of them looked rather young. They look around 7-10 years old, with different themes. “Mako, Herald, Tesla, Shield, Jake, Tommy….” Toriel said their names, while she fell into tears when they all called her ‘mom’. They all hugged her, as she tries to hug them back. But the monster king was left alone. Would they forgive the one that killed them? After they hugged the caretaker, they went to the monster king. “… dad…” It was a big surprise for him. “They know how you feel, as well.” Seven gives him his warm words. Could he even understand what they feel? The faded SOULS have come to hug him in sympathy for his loss.

                Asgore trembles out of sadness, and kept repeating the words of apologies. The light above the sky is becoming brighter; the dark illusion is wearing off. The lionman pleads to the final form. “ **Please, bring back my son. I beg of you!** ” he almost fell down kneeling, but Asriel grabs hold of Giga’s shoulders to stop him. “You don’t need to beg. I’ll bring him back.” He smiles with both hands clapping together. Seven’s ghastly frame trembles for a moment, while the energy around him is dissipating. Seven Gears’ form disappears. It didn’t take long before the final form separates his hands, and pixels of the gunman’s body starts to form. A magical recreation to undo the damage he did, like a reverse formation of how he was erased. King Farlon and Darvenshel couldn’t believe it with their own eyes. Asriel recreated Seven Gear’s body.

                 As soon as the process was finished, he drops his hands underneath the floating body, and lets the body float down to his hands. It didn’t take long before the light-blue SOUL comes back to his body. Giga rushes to check if Seven’s pulse, and soon after he takes him off of Asriel’s hands. The gunman irritatingly pinches his eyes close for a moment, before he groans awake. “Nnnngh….” Upon closer inspection, it’s as if he was never gone in the first place, but he is just regaining conscious. “ **Seven!** ”

                “Nnnnggghhhhnnn…..please…. 5 more minutes…” he curls into a ball, while hanging unto Giga’s arm. The lionman is glad that the gunman is okay now. “ **Thank you… for bringing back my son…** ” he fell on his knees, while cradling the tired human. All Asriel could do is revert back into his original form with a smile, while the sky turns blue. The outline souls soon disappear, while the Dreemurr parents were left with a relieved smile as they anguish toward their past actions for the last time. Frisk comes back to his father’s side while Darvenshel could only sigh in relief, with a comment “And here I thought I’ve seen it all…” The village illusion also dissipated; it is now a rundown land, with the remains of buildings vegetated over. Asriel walked towards the middle of the village, where the patch of flower was. [[song ends here](https://soundcloud.com/animeost5lw/white-gloves)]

                “…. I think, everyone’s gone now. Chara, I never met your parents, but some day… **We’ll meet them.** ” Something sparkles underneath the ground. As the goat child takes notice of it, he kneels down to see what it was. Upon closer inspection, he picks it up and smiles. A golden heart pendant, with a picture of Chara and her parents.

[Asriel obtains **Chara’s Family Pendant** – Chara’s long lost treasure. It plays a [sad but soothing music box](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWW8DMpfI9U) when you touch the picture.]

* * *

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFSG33Ao2Ug)] Back at the Human Capital, Frisk’s household. The child sits alone on her bed, while holding a photo of her mother. A beautiful lady on her queenly white, red and brown gown, with long and braided hair at the front that dangles only above her shoulders. While the hair behind her extends to her back. A kind, yet closed eyes smile, giving warmth and will to her daughter and father. All Frisk could do is lament over the fact that she is no longer with them, while believing what she saw previously as her mother.

                Frisk and her father had visited the hospital with Giga and Toriel on their side, to heal back Rance. Doc Mercy did what he could to slow down the warrior’s leave towards death’s door by taking away the leftover poison tip of the arrow from his heart, while clearing off the toxins as much as he could. But no matter how much he does, the toxin within Rance’s body stayed and spread. Only through the warrior’s perseverance did he held into the living. Soon after, the toxin turns out to be an everlasting poison that can only be cured by healing magic. As soon as the poison was cleared, healing regenerative magic was casted by Toriel, while pain sedative wind magic was casted by Giga.

                In the end, he survived with a stable condition. The stitching around his chest was also cleared thanks to their efforts. But due to extensive use of healing magic, it left the warrior exhausted of stamina for persevering a total of 3 hours of diagnostic surgery. Darvenshel stayed at the Monster Capital with Seven Gears, as they conversed with King Asgore about what happened to North. It turns out that Asgore heard a full report detail from Rance himself, while he was making his way to the hospital with a critical injury. Soon after, West passed the message to King Farlon and nods on the report.

                Frisk could only clench her hand, as she couldn’t believe that she was the one who did that. If Rance didn’t intervene, then her father would have already died from the poison. All she could do is sob on her bed, while thinking of how much of a fool she was, for believing that the dead had come back. The sun was setting, and she hasn’t left her room yet. Someone knocks on her door, then that person proceeds himself in.

                King Farlon brings a tray of food. Cookies on a plate, with a glass of milk. “Frisk. I brought you some snacks.” He greets with a smile. No response from her, as the father puts them on her table. He sits beside her, and noticed the picture of her mother, his wife on her hands. He gives a stressed sigh, before looking up to the ceiling. “Frisk. I… I’m sorry. For everything.” He said with a voice. “If I could have done better for everyone. My only wish was for everyone to live happily ever after…”

                He puts both of his hands together, and looks at them as if he was praying. “We both wish to see her, again. But…” King Farlon recalls what Asriel did to bring Seven back to life. Asriel’s only response to them was, “I’m sorry, Frisk’s father. But I can’t bring back someone who had already passed.” It was too much of a favor than a dream, for him to do something that is beyond impossible. When someone had already been set free from life’s chains, you can no longer bring them back. But Seven’s soul lingered long enough within the body of the final form that he was able to come back.

                Farlon thought about it, over and over. “I was afraid… afraid of losing everyone. If I had favored for your sake, then this country would have fallen in ruins. I love both my family, and my country…” Without a second delay, Frisk hugs her father by the arm. Words couldn’t describe how much Frisk swallowed all of that, and still forgives her father. With a few sniffles, she gives a determined line: “Let’s do our best. For everyone’s future.” The sun sets down with the father and daughter having their moments together.

* * *

                Meanwhile at the Monster Capital, Alphys’ home and laboratory, Seven Gears carries a tong with a vial full of green liquid. Sans slowly fans his hand down, with the floating teardrop leaning over the vial and dropping a chemical substance. As the drop lands on the vial’s liquid substance, there was no reaction. “Hey, Dunkel. I think there’s nothing wrong with—“ the gunman carelessly swings the tong, splashing a nearby plant with the liquid substance. It didn’t take long before the chemical seeps into the plant, and becomes animated. “ _Yayayayayaya!! I’m alive!!!!!_ ” A menacing reanimation of the plant occurs, and the professor is not amused from the noise it just made. “Ugh, another one.” Dunkelheit was reading the same notes Alphys lend to him, and without even looking, he grabbed a bottle spray from underneath the desk.

                He starts power shooting the spray all over the gunman and the plant. “ _Ahhhhhh!!!!!_ ” it screeches like its entirely burns to the pot of dirt it belonged to. While the chemical shower made Seven wet. “Ahh! What the heck? Stop!” He blocks the water with both hands, while dropping the tong and vial to the floor. He doesn’t seem to be hurt when the chemical that killed the plant monster was showered all over him. The professor doesn’t even bat an eye and told him, “That’s good. The weed cure seems to be harmless to humans. This is good progress—“ the professor is not even paying attention to Seven; the gunman protests “You didn’t test this to humans?!”

                The afternoon is ending, and the day for Seven’s visit to the Monster Capital is coming to a close. A day where they Seven volunteered to join in a search party, only to progress with a serious history between the humans and monsters at the run down village. He then recalled something important. “Say, Mr. Dunkelheit—“ he was going to ask nicely, but the professor cuts him off short. “That’s **Professor** Dunkelheit to you.” He disregards the correction and quickly approaches the professor with something on his pocket.

                He takes it out immediately, and hands it over to him. A chocolate-brown hexagonal gemstone, with a smiley bear at front and a note heart logo behind it. “Hmmm…. Where did you find this?” he is intrigued by the unique color of the gemstone, while within it is the logo etched, as if the stone itself was in liquid form for the symbol to be inside it. He places it on the right part of his desk, along with the gunman’s revolvers that were laid vertically. The nozzles of the guns were pointed to the wall, while the handles are below. “You sure are favored with luck, Seven. Not only were you given antique weaponry that could cost you 40 years of life spoils, but you happen to pick up an unknown gem.”

                He takes a closer look with an appraisal scope, and sees that it is not fake either. “Magic might be involved with this stone you picked up. Why not hold onto it for the time being? In the meantime, I will need to take a picture of your guns, and…” He returns the gem and takes out a phone from his pocket. With steady hands on the phone, he faces the camera lens on the weapons that were laid perfectly on the table. A picture was taken, and then made a few taps. “You can have your prized possessions back, now.” He smiles with glee, and taps at his phone again.

                While the gunman holsters his twin revolvers, Dunkelheit’s phone pings out loud several times. He checks his phone, and said “Oh. I received **439 notifications**.” Seven suspiciously looks at Dunkelheit, as the professor chuckles lightly. “You better not have put my guns on auction.” A sharp cut to wound, but it seems that the other was not affected by his words. “My apologies, Seven. But my friends on the internet are mostly  antique fanatics. As soon as they have heard that I got a hold of your legendary guns, they wanted to see proof of it.” A side that cannot be easily unseen, Seven’s lower eye lid twitches with irritation. It’s not that he doesn’t want anyone to see his guns, but the fact that a lot of people seem to take interest in his special 7-shooter revolvers bother him that it might lead to theft.

                Alphys, Bianca, Darvenshel, Dianne, Giga, King Asgore, and Toriel enters the laboratory. They might have gone somewhere while Seven was occupied with the professor. It didn’t take long before the happy moments Dunkelheit had disappeared. Now, everyone goes back to work. But as for Seven and Giga, they need time alone.

                It was dark at the park, but the lamps illuminate some places for them. Night time has already arrived for them, but time sure is short for them. Dianne decides to tag along with the two, as they take a moment at picnic table. “I guess I’ll be going back, soon.” Seven was worn out with whatever labor did the professor gave him, and not to mention he was sprayed with a chemical substance. Dianne looks down for a moment; after hearing what just happened, she couldn’t believe it entirely. The gunman took notice of the rogue’s silent moment and looks at her in the eyes. “Dianne, I—“ a slap on the face from her. If anyone else would be there, they would have heard it.

                “I told you not to be reckless, didn’t I?!” she tearfully said, while her hands tremble on the surface of the table. “Hey, Dianne. Look, I’m fine! No need to worry too much…” he jumps off of his seat, and moves his body around. “see?” with a smile, he tries to cheer her up. “ **More importantly, Seven. Will you be fine, alone?** ” Giga happens to ask with concern. “I will be.” He said with confident look on his face, and a thumbs up. The fact that he is still happy-go-lucky makes him unpredictable. “ **Heh, maybe one day instead of calling you Seven Gears, you’ll be known as Lucky Gears, instead.**” The joyful expression from Seven disappears; his mood changed too fast. “Dad, Giga… please… never call my Lucky.” He looks away.

                Recalling the light that had brought him back, recalling his young friend. “… I can never take that name as mine.” Giga wasn’t aware of what he said nor does have a clue of show he speaks of, instead he stands up and gives his adopted human son a warm hug. “ **I’m sorry, son.** ” He apologizes with a soft voice. The lionman lost hope when he saw the destruction of his adopted son, after his attempts to save him. He was really lucky to be brought back from what appeared to be the dead. Dianne decides to join them. “I’m…also sorry, for snapping at you like that, Sven.” Dianne calmly said, as she hugs both of them. A silent moment for them, until Giga eyes started to twitch in pain. As soon as the gunman notices the lionman’s tail was going berserk, and his whole body trembles, he lets out a loud nightly cry.

“OH MY GOD, DIANNE. DO NOT SNUGGLE MY DAD!!!” Seven could only scream out loud, while the birds flew off from their trees. The moon was full, like a pupil of an eye, looking down at everyone.

* * *

                At Toriel’s house, Papyrus was laid in bed with a goofy smile on his face, and Sans tells him a story of “Algebra Man Equador’s Conquest through Trigonometric Trials ”. As confusing as it sounded, they both understood the story very well, until Sans was able to make the tall skeleton fall to sleep with a smile on his face. Once Sans exited the door, he recalled the harsh words Rance mentioned towards Papyrus. He frowns while tt echoed in his head. As soon as he decides to clear his mind, he grins back once more. With a snap of his finger, he takes a shortcut to Asriel’s room.

                “hey, pal.” He gives a jest. Asriel’s room is just like a makeshift bedroom of any child’s bedroom. Few toys on the box, with two pairs of shoes; the goat child won’t be using them regardless, and a bed fit for two. Asriel was sitting on his chair, doing his homework on the desk against the wall. “Hey, Sans. What’s up?” he turns his attention to the skeleton, and puts down his pen In between the book he’s reading on. “say, asriel. can i talk to chara for a moment?” with a weirdly audible wink, he tries to make a charming joke. It failed miserably.

                “ _Hello, Sans. What is it?_ ” Chara asks through Asriel’s body. “wanna go out to frisk’s room? i know a shortcut.” The usual routine coming from smiley trashbag. Asriel and Chara nods to his request, and they left without saying a word. At Frisk’s room, the child lies on her bed, with the picture of her mother besides her. She is still feeling sad for what happened. Nothing made sense for her as of today, even her journey on the UNDERGROUND made sense, but today was incomprehensible for her. In a flash, the window gives a silhouette feeling. She sits up from her bed, and sees Asriel and Sans standing behind the window. “Howdy, Frisk.” Asriel greets first with a hand raised just below his ear, with fingers wiggling up and down like a wave for a second.

                 “hey, frisk.” Sans could at least try to do something with his greeting routine, but as expected he just winks with a usual grin. A moment of their time, they both sat at the side of Frisk’s bed, just like last time. Frisk was in between them, with a picture of her mother on her hands. “She’s beautiful…” The goat child compliments in awe. The hair color and smile from her resembles Frisk’s warm smile. “I was a fool, for believing in an illusion. I can’t believe I let myself believe in this…” In a split second, Chara comments. “ _You know, Frisk. Back in the Underground, after you decline my request to kill anyone who will hurt you, someone else guided you._ ”

                The child and skeleton looks at Asriel, while the possessed goat child looks up on the ceiling in curiosity, before leaning down on the comfortable bed with spread arms. “ _I mean to say is, someone’s been giving you a source of Determination to [ **CONTINUE** ]. That might be your mom._” The goat child’s eyes reflect with a shine of ruby. “ _I can remember the time I was going to take control of you, for declining my request several times. I heard kind words from someone. They sound closely to Toriel’s, as she said…_ ”

“Violence will only resolute to more violence.”

                Frisk couldn’t believe what Chara just said. “Those were… my mother’s words to my father…” she recalls the same kind words from Queen Falma to King Farlon, **two years ago**. “ _I envy you, that even in death, your mom stayed by your side. Cherish that idea._ ” Chara could only say those words, before breaking down. “kid, she’s not lying.” Sans gives his support to the idea, and then looks up as well. “i saw an anomaly within you, back then. an unknown power source for your determination. red death child was previously the marked anomaly, but even after she was fused with the young prince, you still beacon a fluctuation.”

               “kid, with that theory, we could safe to assume that… your mother never left your place, from the very beginning. this timeline is far different from many timelines that were looped into, so please. if any inconvenience ever happens here again, do not reset. just continue…” Sans gives his word. “i may not be that good-for-nothing guard you have, heck i’ll do better than he could in safekeeping you.” A supportive voice from him was odd. “No matter what happens, Frisk. We’re always there for you!” Asriel sits up with an earnest smile on his face, with hands pumping up to his chest. “You two…” Frisk was touched by his friends’ support of voice. She could see that they’re willing to help their friend in need, all she could do is give her warm smile back to them, and said. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFSG33Ao2Ug)]

“Thank you…”

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending is a so-so? Time is rather short for everyone of them ( ~~including me~~ ) First encounter with monsters who have two SOUL traits, and of course, our favorite goat child has three. We can safely assume that Flowey did something, in order for him to manipulate such hallucinations. But it will be revealed on the next chapter.
> 
> I cut off the action here, only because I realized that they're not supposed to kill each other. Maybe I'll write that on Seed of Flowey's Neutral Route. Well, I'm still considering that factor. Update story days will be adjust accordingly, only because this is the 3rd time I had a serious story delay.  
> Anyone noticed that Seven dislikes being called Lucky? Well, someone wasn't very lucky, that he declines that title. Maybe he really was lucky, to be brought back from that. And as you guys have guessed, the spotlight for this day is focused on the OCs as well. Have you guys accepted the resolute that was given to the Dreemurrs, Frisk's father, and Chara's reason for being? 
> 
> Lastly, what do you see in Seven Gears as his **special trait**? Comment what you think. 
> 
> Stay tuned for the next extra of Seed of Flowey.


	14. A 3-Day Vacation Work with the Flags: Day Three (part one)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“’A picture is worth a thousand words’, they say. But to me, there are only two depictions: those who do not understand it, and those who do not like it. Some may appreciate it, but not to its fullest extent.”_ -Ace Gears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things have been very slow, and I've been very busy with stuffs. I plan on having it all in one, but that would just extend my leave. I do apologize for the delays, but there are times that I need to do something about the **other** problems. That aside, here is your new chapter for Day three!

                Friday at both Capitals, their people have all asked what happened yesterday. It did not occur to their Kings, that Asriel had caused an aftershock upon his transformation. A panic had caused everyone else to distress, while some who were close to them knew what really happened, but did not say anything. All they can say is that a search party was establish, to investigate the occurrence. There was a search party, but they did not indicate who. Fortunately, the kings were able to smoothen the situation with their words, that suspicions were immediately dealt with.

                Everything seems to be back to normal; there were no abnormalities throughout the morning for those who ventured to the woods, except for the human king, who just had a hard time breathing when he got home. Back in the Human Capital, the king’s daughter insists that they should see the Northern Royal Guard, who is once again hospitalize for his actions. King Farlon could barely speak at the moment, but soon he starts to cough harder than usual. The endangerment of his life is a bigger priority than an encouragement of seeing a friend. So Frisk presumes.

                Without warning, she snuck out of the castle once more. There are more guards outside at the moment, but her light feet were enough for her to get to the gate. Before she could step out, someone roughly lifted her from the shirt’s collar. In a glance, her nerves were shot with an immediate cold reception; a sudden strike of fear out of spite. “Hello, little red runt.” South’s merciless words hit her like cinder bricks. “Why are you sneaking out of your home?” Her eyes seem cold, but underneath her intentions are somewhat kind forged in cold steel. It’s ironic, but it seems that she is trying to get into the child’s good side, regardless of the words ‘little red runt’ thrown at her.

                “I want to visit the Northern Royal Guard, Rance Vor. But my father is currently not feeling well to help me out.” Frisk carefully stated. Through Determination and Bravery did she withstand the coldness that the blonde militant is showing. All she could to is click tongue with an irritated look on her face. Frisk could assume that she will be dragged back to the castle, but instead she was put down on the pavement ground. South looks away for a moment, with arms crossed below her chest. She looks back with compassionate eyes, and nods once. “Understood. I shall accompany you in meeting North. I was planning on visiting him, as well.” Frisk smiles a little that South shed some Kindness, but it was soon brushed off with her cold tone of words. “Let us go.”

* * *

 

                _A dream, a vision, or a nightmare. Everything seems to be static, like a bad reception on TV. Yellow walls with fancy majestic crown patterns in spikes tainted with a large spill of blood. People were screaming in fear, while some are engaging with a roar. Too gruesome to bear for some non-combatants, while too extreme for those who are experienced in hand-to-hand combat. One person against an army, but from what anyone could see, that one person, that one warrior is enough to wipe the floor, with everyone._

_A newly-adult warrior whose eyes were bewildered in crimson red that is beyond humanely recognition, continues to take one life after another. All others are either gentlemen or lady in gowns. Some have guns, or even swords. Fancy knives and rifles that can take down any life, but even so, the warrior in lance cuts through their offensive and defensive stances. Legends and statures are nothing to him. A clean pike to the chest, before ripping it down with its blade. A heavy stamp on the face with his feet, deforming the head entirely. And with a blur, many were shed blood through the room._

_Middle of the room is a large bonfire, of all other soldiers in armor. Who could have done it? The warrior rages through, taking everyone’s life in a single minute. Decapitation, head crushing, even women were given no mercy, as he pulled one’s head and slammed it to a table. The force was too great, that her face was crushed onto the surface of an oakwood table, forcing it to split in half, and snap like a trap. It was terror like no other, for a single newly-adult to fall off from his sanity, and commit such violent and unstoppable acts._

_Not a single scratch on him, but blood showered unto his armor attachments; he doesn’t bat an eye at all. One last man, with a rifle at hand, but his hold cannot be steadied. “You… A monster! **DIE!** ” he cries out with his eyes closed, before he open-fires. As soon as the magazine has been emptied, he looks again. The warrior was not there. It didn’t take long before he re-appears in front of him, and the vision cuts into two horizontal figures._

_No one survived his carnage, and no one could have stopped him. The warrior looks down on the corpse of a man he just decapitated through the eye holes, before looking at his hands that are sullied in blood and flesh. Bodies are piled up, almost everywhere. Not one part of the room was clean, that even the ceiling was drenched. Clean crystal chandeliers tainted and dripping in crimson, vases and portraits were cleanly cut off, either diagonally or vertically. All the warrior can do is look down on his hands, before he trembled to the floor, and cried out loud. It was pitiful; the cries of both anguish and joy. Maddening, before everything went black once more._

* * *

 

                At the Hospital, Seven Gears wake up on a long bench in someone’s room. The cold, plain room that serves as Rance’s temporary room. For the gunman to sleep in there was no given comfort; his apartment is currently on lock, while he could not simply go and borrow a room at the warrior’s apartment. He sees it rude for him to do that, without the owner’s permission. He doesn’t want to sleep in a rental apartment or a hotel, no thanks to Dunkelheit’s photo share of his guns. He couldn’t risk the deed of sleeping somewhere with strangers, who could do more harm by stealing his prized possessions than stealing his life.

                All he could do is convince the nurse clerks to let him visit the warrior, since he mentions that he is a ‘friend of his’. They were skeptical at first, but in the end they let him visit him. In the gunman’s wake, he looks around for the moment. Nothing unusual about the room itself, but something seems to be wrong with Rance. He stood up with a jump, before he approaches the sleeping warrior. The patient himself is shifting his head from one side to another, with a troubled look on his face. He seems to be struggling with something, as his whole body lets out a cold sweat. Even in a comfortably air-conditioned room, he continues to struggle as if he was having a bad fever.

                “Oh my God. Nurse! I need help here—“ Seven was about to turn and warn the staff, but before he could, someone grab hold of his right hand. “Ah, Rance!” a startled response. The warrior grabs the gunman’s wrist with a steel clench, before he tightens it like a tool. It was starting to hurt for Seven, as he grunts in pain. The metal gauntlet that he has on his wrist was starting to constrict and dent to a smaller portion. Quick thinking, he slams his other clenched fist towards the grip, as he struggles away. Rance unconsciously let go of the other’s arm, before falling back on his pillow.

                The gunman pants with fear and walks back to a safe distance, as the warrior’s grip nearly broke his wrist like twigs, even with metal covers. A struggle to remove it was difficult to remove. With a little force, he got it off with a slight peel of his wrist’s skin. In rush to exit the door, as soon as he opens it, he met up with someone who was just about to enter the room. From one terrifying nightmare unto the other, he confronts the blonde militant, who doesn’t look too please from the gunman’s current reaction. “… What are you doing here?” Her hand was already on the tip end part of her sword’s handle, ready to unsheathe and attack. “Wait!” Frisk comes out from behind, panting a little. It looks like they’ve walk from the central household to the hospital.

                “Rance looks like he’s having a night terror. He grabbed my arm all of the sudden, and it started to hurt—“ Seven was panicking, but as soon as South shoves him to the side, she takes out her sword with the sheath on it, and takes a look at North. “Hmm….” Her eyes were on the resting warrior, and without question, she raised her sheathed sword and slams it towards Rance’s forehead. The child couldn’t react fast enough to stop her, but out of nowhere, the warrior grips the sheath preventing it from hitting him.

                Her actions started both Frisk and Seven, but Rance is still asleep even after she pulled away her sword and sheath off of his hands. The child looks at the gunman with curiosity, and notices that he’s holding his wrist. “Hey, are you okay?” she asks. Seven looks back at the child, while the blonde militant continues to observe the sleeping royal guard. “I think I will be. Ouch!” his wrist seems injured when Frisk decides to poke it. “We should have that checked by the doctors here.” Without waiting for the gunman’s reply, she rushes out of the room. “Huh, hey wait!”

                The moment he got outside of the room, Frisk was already talking to one of the nurses. Even in a cold and comfortable atmosphere, he felt unease that a child was fast enough to go that far from the room she was in. There was no point in stopping her, so he just starts walking towards the nurse she just consulted with. Ignoring the fact that South was left with North in the room. The blonde militant looks at the warrior with irritated eyes, while her frown bears teeth that grinds with one another. With a small sigh, she turns around to sit on the long bench. Her expression is sour, but her thoughts were calm. “… If my sister had not died that day, you have much more to learn.” It was well forgotten, that Seven’s dented gauntlet was left underneath the bench.

* * *

 

                Later that day, Frisk waits outside of a check-up room outside. She looks up and around the hallway and notices that there are less people than usual. She looks further, only to see that some nurses are on their free time. It didn’t take long for the gunman to come out of the room with his right wrist bandaged. Coming from the princess, the treatment was free. With only one hand, he shyly rubs the back of his head with his left hand. “Uhh.. Thanks—“ The moment became more awkward when his stomach grumbles in hunger. Seven tries to feign ignorance with a smile, but his gut won’t lie that he has not yet had any breakfast.

                He does have a certain amount on his wallet, but under the presence of a royal member of the Capital, it was a shameful display. They went to the hospital’s cafeteria together, though Frisk is present with a suspicious person, she didn’t mind. Seven also thought of it, but he feels like the child would just pester to him if he tries to get away. The fact that Frisk is also agile makes her harder to shake off. Upon getting food, Seven was going to pay. But when the cook sees him with Frisk, the food suddenly became free. An unnecessary bow occurred to them, making the child blush in embarrassment. “Please don’t do that.” She could only comment.

                There was an empty spot just near the counter, and the gunman decides to grab that spot out of many vacant seats. Upon sitting, he pauses for a moment for a short prayer before grabbing his prepared plastic knife and fork from his tray. “Thanks for the meal!” he gives a momentary cheer, before he starts to eat. “So, Frisk… About what happened back then..” he looks down at his food tray, while envisioning the forest events. “I want to ask.” Frisk seems to have the same thought.

                “Why did you want to help my father and the monsters?” It was a direct question for her to ask, but the suspicion falls under that category. Seven looks down with a sigh, and answered. “I just want to say that we’re not the type who would kidnap someone.” He stops eating for a moment. The child thinks for a moment, then notices the revolvers holstered on his sides. The gunman notices that the child was looking at them. “Do you…?” Frisk points out Seven’s guns, not wanting to say if he ever killed anyone.

                His mouth drops with a momentary pause, before answering with a smile. “Oh, no no. I’ve never taken anyone’s life.” He takes a tissue from the table’s tissue holder, and wipes his mouth with it before answering. “But those guns are—“ she was cut off with the gunman’s words. “Very powerful? Well, yes. Powerful enough to punch a large hole unto someone’s chest. But even so, I make it work that it doesn’t kill anyone.” While he eats and talks, she listens.

                “Most gun-users aim and pull the trigger; a direct shoot and kill. There’s nothing wrong with it… Well, except for the killing part. But I prefer to imagine a recticle, point towards it and squeeze the trigger.” He puts down his utensils, and takes out his silver revolver from its holster. He opens the chamber and show the cylinder slots, just to show to Frisk that there are no bullets loaded. “Don’t worry. As long as it’s not loaded, it can only be used as an impromptu hammer.” Frisk nods in agreement. It didn’t take long before he points at a glass from a far table.

                “This gun is used to strike down and rebound towards the next target. It’s all about the Math. Calculate where you should fire, know where it should land, know if there will be wind or sudden blocks, and then.” He pulls the trigger, and it only clicks. His eyes were giving a feeling of a crosshair; he seems to know what he is doing. “Does that mean that you calculate everything?” Frisk asks curiously. “If I’m planning to create a chain storm, then yes.” Seven gives a determined look, but his eyes give a comforting light-blue color.

                The child ponders for a moment, before asking another question. The gunman waits for further actions as he felt the need to answer Frisk’s curious thoughts. He wouldn’t be able to eat in comfort, otherwise. “By the way. Is it true that Giga is your father?” He nods once. “Yes, he is. Well, step-father. He first became my friend when my parents left me at an orphanage when I was young. Next thing I know; he grew more as a father to me and adopted me.” Frisk was amazed that there was someone else who became friends with a monster other than her. Seven looks up and wondered if he’s going to be alright.

                Frisk puts an assurance to that, and said “Don’t worry. Your father will be alright. The monsters are actually friendly…” she paused for a moment before speaking again. “I just want to say that, you’re a lucky guy.” She said it in gloom; a sad and envious tone from her. It left him wondering what’s on her mind. “Why is that?” the gunman asks with a slight tone of irritation. But in his case, it was barely noticeable. “You were… brought back from the dead. And, to have a father that cares so much for you.”

                Seven’s nerve twitched for a moment. “First of all, I’m not lucky. The fact that my real parents left me in an orphanage without any reason, only for them to get killed off at North City 2 years ago proves that. Second, despite that Giga is a good step father to me doesn’t mean that he’s the best.” He looks down on the tray of leftover food, and continued with a sad tone of voice. “At least, your father is still alive. Despite how much effort he tried to put up, just to save you from harm’s way.” Frisk could tell that she might have brought up something unpleasant, for him to speak like that.

                Her envy that may have hurt someone else’s feelings indirectly, led the gunman to think of how awful his life would’ve been. “I’m… sorry for saying it off, selfishly.” Frisk apologizes. “I don’t really know what happened to you in the past, but I can say this for sure: Your father loves you, with all his heart.” Seven recalls how emotionally confused King Farlon was when they saw her come out of one of the buildings. If he had let his emotions run over, then her being controlled would have led to the murder of the king, by the hands of his own daughter.

                A moment of silence for both of them, before he finishes his food. He presses the table with his left hand as he pushes himself to stand up. “Let’s go back and see how Rance is feeling.” A neutrally tone suggestion from the gunman. All Frisk could do is nod in agreement. “That won’t be necessary.” South appears from behind, and startled both of them. “Uwah!” Seven turns around, and walks back to the table almost stumbling. Not only was South’s sudden appearance that scared off the gunman and child, but also her intimidating look towards them. Frisk snaps back from her fear, and asks the blonde militant. “What do you mean by that?”

                “Rance Vor needs to rest for today. Judging from his breathing tempo, he barely had rest this week.” A direct answer from her. “I must escort you back to your home, your highness. Any longer might force the king to call another search party throughout the city.” A harsh suggestion made both of them sweat in nervousness. She continues with a last command, as her eyes glare at the gunman. “As for you, trickshooter. You will go to the North HQ and wait for **someone**. Fail to do that, and I might as well have your apartment papers torn down.” She turns around and shook her head to the exit, signaling that the child must follow the blonde militant.

                “Frisk…” The gun man spoke in worry, and made the child turn to his attention. He felt the need to hesitate, but instead he tried his best to speak: “Cherish everyone who you are friends with. It’s…not my place to say this, but I want you to be happy with those who are around you.” His eyes went cold for a moment, a sign of pity. “There are…reasons why things happen as it shouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean that you should look for others. Give your father a chance, or you might end up…Just like me.”

                Frisk doesn’t know Seven’s story, and felt that he’s making a point. Suddenly, his eyes went light-blue again and jested. “That’s what my friend would have wanted to say.” He hides his sorrow with a fake smile; it’s almost too convincing, but South herself could tell what he’s trying to say. It’s not the best way for moral support, but she just felt silent. Something felt odd at that moment. She shook her senses awake without showing it, and recalls something important.

                “Seven--Catch.” She said, throwing something towards Seven. The gunman immediately readied his hands, and caught something metallic. Upon catching it, he immediately realizes that South threw him his metal gauntlet he dropped a while ago. “There is a blacksmith at South City. You can have your equipment repaired there.” That was unusually caring of her, but before the gunman could even thank her, she turns herself to the other side and walks away with the child. “See you later.” All Frisk could do is give a cheerful smile, and Seven couldn’t avoid doing the same. What just came over him? He suddenly said that out of nowhere, and it felt like someone spoke through him.

[♣ _Thank you… For being my friend._ ♣]

* * *

                Back at the Monster Capital, the luggage that Bianca, Dianne and Dunkelheit were being taken care of by their drivers. As their stay there is mostly composed of studying how to detect Flowey’s fake and destroying it without affecting everyone else, the nature of the SOULS and how it can be triggered. Normally, the study should take up to weeks. But in their case, it was just within 2 days. A genius professor who is able to work through the details, as well as the cooperation of a seemingly lazy skeleton; they were able to accelerate the process. With the cooperation of the Royal Scientist’s notes and studies, as well as the professor’s star pupil, things went smoothly.

                “Well now, I thank you for the notes you have provided me, Doctor Alphys. It is indeed intriguing to read.” Dunkelheit had given his commends. “I-I didn’t think it could help us with the research.” She claims nervously with an awkward smile. The nurse, Bianca holds both her new monster friend’s hands and suggest “Hey, why not visit our city?” A gleeful tone from a cheerful nurse seem cliché for Dianne, as she adds. “But the Capital is under neutral standings with the monsters at the moment.” She crossed her arms and continues with a frown. “Then again, she could use a breather of reading the books at the West City University. The more you can know, the better. Right?” Both Alphys and Bianca were holding their breaths for the rogue’s first impression, thinking that she wouldn’t allow that. But she seems to be kind about it.

                “Absolutely not, young missies!” The professor stands against their given decision. “As you have said, we are at current neutral terms. We are only exempted because we are given special tasks, in eliminating the flower monster. We cannot make additional exceptions–“ As he was scolding them, Dianne cuts him with her words. “But her visit is not about enjoying the moments, as you may have assumed, Professor Dunkelheit Wesson.” He was flabbergasted by the rogue’s challenging call. Dianne continues “She will be there, reading the new textbooks and research notes that were made by our fellow students and instructors, and serve as a panel for the studies, can she not?”

                Like a knife to the chest, the professor was struck by Dianne’s suggestion. “I mean, Sans is and can be one of your panels. Why not add our scientist here, who has a background with her notes? I mean, she didn’t become the Royal Scientist for nothing.” She starts to give Dunkelheit the doubt of his words, but before he could realize what she’s saying, he already fell for her sly trap. Sans, Papyrus and Undyne in armor already had their luggage ready at the back. Alphys’ luggage is also besides her. It was rather fast for him, or maybe he was pondering too long. “Hold on, young Bianca and young Dianne! I cannot say the same for the kings’ decision.” The professor points out by raising the tip of his cane diagonally up, like an old man.

                “But Darvenshel is coming here to pick us up. Including Giga.” Bianca pleas with that. It took him long to realize that it went too fast for him. “How long was I pondering?” He asks with doubt. “heh, about 10 minutes.” Sans comments. For Dunkelheit to process such an event, there are only two possibilities: they have already taken consideration without his consent last night, or that Papyrus stopped his time as they ready their luggage. “You two should have consulted with me, before making such a decision!” It didn’t take long before the monster king, Asgore pays them a visit. Walking by his side is the lion man who has his due done early.

                “No need for the strict tone, Professor Wesson.” The king gives his regards, and calmly happy as always. “Because of the assistance of Seven and Giga, the research work was accelerated. We will be expecting the results by tomorrow.” It was still uncalled for in his side. He is at the point of hyperventilating in rage. “Now, now. Your king also had approved of this decision. If not, then they shouldn’t have prepared their belongings for their departure.” King Asgore tries to ease the professor’s confusion. Dianne adds the detail. “Technically, while Alphys study and panel possible beneficial ideas for both sides, Undyne wishes to visit my brother.”

                Undyne bears teeth in her grin of excitement. “I can’t wait to see your brother, again!” Out of the blue, she spawns a solid water spear gripped on her hands. “AND CHALLENGE HIM!!!” Sans gives a sigh, as he teases her. “good luck fishing him out. he he” There was a distant echo of Papyrus exclaiming at his brother, but he muffles his mouth with his hands. Dianne walks behind the short skeleton and leans over his smooth skull. “While Papyrus Sans will help you with the preparation, tomorrow. You two still have something to discuss, other than your hatred towards my brother, of course.” She pointed out something good, which somewhat appeased the professor. “And you and Bianca?” Dunkelheit squints his eyes, feeling that something highly beneficial for her will be mentioned.

                “I’m going with Seven and Giga throughout the whole day, while Bianca helps Alphys with her studies.” She answers with glee. It seems that she had everything planned out, but as usual. The professor is planning to rain on her parade. “Before you do that, have you and Bianca made your written findings of our studies for the past two days?” he cracks a sly smile. But out of the blue, they took out their notebooks and gave them to their instructor. “Yes, professor! We were already finished with it last night.” Bianca gleefully gives her notes as well. In haste, Dunkelheit snatched both their notebooks and made a quick read.

                Upon further time reading, Darvenshel arrives in his hoodless vehicle. When the professor heard him park his vehicle to the side, he couldn’t help but sigh. “All right. You two win.” He tilts his head, admitting defeat. As much as he hates being defeated by those younger than him, he couldn’t be helped but feel happy to know that his students have made a lot of preparations, just for this one small event. “Well, if you are going separate ways, then I suggest you move your stuff to Darvenshel’s car.” He points back with his thumb, without looking at the rogue. He’s trying to hide his expression of defeat.

                “All right! Giga, Undyne, Bianca, and Alphys, we’re riding the cruiser!” the rogue seems to be wilder than usual. All that are left are Sans and Papyrus, who will be riding with Dunkelheit and his driver’s car. While they drive out of the Monster Capital, Giga has been silent for quite some time. Dianne couldn’t avoid but notice it, since he was with the monster king this whole time. Maybe something happened. At front with Darvenshel driving, Giga was seated there. While Undyne, Alphys, and Bianca are seated at the back. As for the rogue, Dianne Vor, she sits at the back trunk of the car, with her feet in between Alphys in the middle.

                It was going to be a boring drive, until the sound of a twitching snuggle ruined it. “ **AHHHHH!!!!** ” The lion man squirms around with great discomfort, forcing his movements to interfere with Darvenshel’s driving “ **OH MY GOD, DIANNE! WE’RE IN A MOVING VEHICLE!!!** ” the green tank exploded as the car wiggles off track for a moment and tires screech aloud. Asgore, who was coming back to his home, heard a distant outburst of scold. “Hmm? Golly, what a beautiful day indeed.” He looks back for a moment, before turning towards the doors of his home.

* * *

 

                It was a lonely walk for the gunman, as he makes his way to the Northern Royal Guard Headquarters. It was his time to ponder, what could have happened if he didn’t know about his parents. In all things, maybe he shouldn’t have known so that his train of thought wouldn’t be as messed up as it is now. Self-pity; he couldn’t stop pondering about that. Moving on, it doesn’t suit him just to stop at one point. Every day was a journey to him, and never did he stop for a moment. Now, his legs tremble; he couldn’t know what to do next. His only purpose for coming to the Human Capital is to look for his parents with Giga. Now that he ponders about it, what will he be doing next?

                His heart was gripped with sorrow, because the truth stabbed him harder than it should. Without noticing where he is going, he ends up within a dark alley. Was it really a dark alley? He went straight ahead, and may have skipped a road way. He looks around for a moment, behind him is the open street. Taking a shortcut might be okay for him, but he felt a weird presence as he walks toward the unknown. Each step he takes; he is being lead to a darker area. Until a certain spotlight shines at a patch of grass, with a golden flower presenting itself with an earnest smile.

                “ _Howdy! My name is Flowey. Flowey the Flower!_ ” the flower spoke in tones. Seven is still half-aware that he is talking to a flower. “ _Golly! I wonder what’s on your mind. Is it the news about your parents dying, or are you planning on stopping on your tracks?_ ” A teaspoon of treachery in its tone. “What do you want?” he asks coldly, a frown of discontent for the gunman. He could shoot the flower to death, but that won’t necessary do anything. And because he is in the Human Capital, a gunshot may cause a panic.

                “ _What I want? What I want from YOU—_ “ a pause from the flower monster, before shifting into a menacing smile. “ _Is to be yourself. Your **true self**._ ” A light chuckle, before continuing to its pace of words. “ _What I see in you, is not some human with a pair of ridiculous guns. What I see in you, is a nature similar to me~ I mean, we both have our own **agendas** in life. But, thanks to a little ol’ me, everything is going so well._ ” A few points and gestures of a leaf, like a person making a mocking expression. “ _You know what I’m talking about, right?_ ”

                Seven thought of something that struck him odd. The disappearance of two children, the closure for the Abundant Life Village and its cruel ritual towards children; the relation of the humans and monsters. Lastly, him and Giga willing to help their quest, because the two wanted to clear their names, for abducting the Princess of the Human Capital. “You…planned this from the beginning. All of it.” It made sense for him. All the pieces weren’t coincidental, but were planned from the very beginning. A flower monster who had written the script for everything, went into play as how it wanted it.

                “ _Now, tell me. Seven Gears—or should I call you: **Code Seven**. Are you going to continue with your plan?_ ” the gunman’s eyes widen. “How—!?“ a vine from a wall wrapped around his leg, and then both his arms. He is forced into a crucifixion “ _Human who bears the SOUL trait, **Patience**. I know what you are really up to. Lying to yourself by focusing on your dead parents will not get you anywhere, unless you really are concerned for them._ ” All Seven could do is glare at the flower monster. “ _Hihihi, as expected from you. Well, you should be on your way now._ ” The vines around him removed themselves, as Flowey retracts to the ground.

                Seven was left puzzled with how much the flower monster knows, and how everything had fallen to his so-called ‘plan’. All he could think now is to not underestimate it since it knew what he really has in mind. He starts to continue forward towards the end of the dark alley, this time with great vigilance.

* * *

 

                “I’m sorry, Dianne. But your brother needs a full day of bed rest. We also need to monitor his actions, as he seems to have injured some of our staff in his sleep.” One of the male nurses have said. “What?! A true warrior never rests when a challenge is prepared!!” Undyne spikes up, before spawning her own spear and pointing the spearhead it towards the hospital staff’s neck. Dianne goes to the monster guard’s right side and reasoned “Undyne, calm down. The staff mentioned that his left chest and heart was pierced with a highly toxic arrow, he underwent three hours of surgery, plus two simultaneous healing treatment from Toriel and Giga. He’s lucky to be alive, after a lot of things happened to him.”

                “ **I can attest to that. Your brother really doesn’t want to die for him to clutch from Death’s grasp**.” The lion man commends him, but the full details of what happened yesterday was not yet released. Darvenshel isn’t pleased as well, but instead he stayed at the Hospital and asked around for a bit, going his own way from the rest. While the rest are forced to walk on foot. “Oh, right. We need to go to the University first! Me and Alphys will be reading some studies. Undyne, wanna come with?” Bianca gives her suggestion to them without inviting Dianne and Giga. “Meh, I don’t feel like reading geek stuffs for today. I might as well hang out with Rance’s sister for today.” She looks disappointed, but Dianne has something in store.

                “Hey, maybe after we get Seven, we should party at my brother’s house!” Dianne seems to brim with confidence just to turn things around. “Wait, is it okay for your brother to…” Undyne seems to have some doubts if Rance would allow it, but the rogue shook her hand to stop her from making any more doubts. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry!” Unusually confident, she pulls forward her hand signing them to follow. “Come on! We have a lot to prepare.” Giga wants to stop her, but he is still shivering and twitching from the sudden sneak attack. What worries him more than that, is what will Seven do alone. He shook his head out of doubt, and presses on with everyone.

                For some reason, Giga Lionheart felt something odd about Dianne. An overwhelmingly odd feeling, that makes his fur and mane raise with great intensity.

 

                -To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Code Seven, what does that mean and what is his true goal? Also, why did he spoke like that to Frisk? He doesn't have business with her problems, but someone had made him trigger that state. Someone? Flowey has a lot in store, as all of it was part of its plan. What plan, exactly?
> 
> Dianne is acting weird, unusually weird. Anyone can guess what's her plan as well? Because she said 'Seven', not 'Sven'. ( _that is not a typo._ )
> 
> Ro-kun here with a sad news. Because I've been put in a **huge mess** , I felt the need to delay the next one as well. I can't put the pieces of the story together with a messed up workload, but that doesn't mean that it's the end for Seed of Flowey. Ho, I have a LOT in store for everyone.


	15. A 3-Day Vacation Work with the Flags: Day Three (part two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ _Cowardice is the Firstborn’s insight; Bravery is the Lastborn’s wish._ ” –Melody Gears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's everyone's New Year? Ro-kun here with a new Chapter Update. Apparently, this will be the last extra for the following weeks. And from here **I will proceed with the Main Chapters**. The thing is, I was supposed to publish this last New Year, but some **_IDIOT_** was messing with the rockets, and caused a power out, corrupting my **Save File**. I did what I can to recover, and polish the story. So, I hope you enjoy.

                A stop and wait at Northern Royal Guard HQ for the gunman, Seven Gears; a thought and ponder that left him astray in mind, and senses heightened for his sake. Flowey was able to creep him out with not just the news about his parents’ status, but also his other self. “Damnit…” all he could murmur to himself. In ways that he could have kept things as it should, like a quiet lake suddenly getting cannonballed by truth. It would have been okay as it should, if that damned flower did not reminded him of his purpose.

                “…damnit…” It bothered the clerk to notice how deep the gun man ponders, until she began approaching him with heels making a sound. Unlike some given characters, the clerk bother to work with heels as her only job is to manage and process all requests that are checked by the assigned Royal Guard. “Uhm, excuse me.” She politely asks, startling him into a sudden lean back to the chair.

                “Guahh!” Seven couldn’t avoid being surprised, and his startle causes her to scream with him. “Aaah! Why are you so lost in thought?!” the clerk just went and asked him. A moment before the gun man realizes that all other soldiers are now looking at them. Eyes that cannot be avoided by how he acted out of color. “Uhhh, I was just…” he tries to think of a reason what he was thinking. Flowey really did a number in him, to make Seven think of a reason why he was acting strange. “I was just…thinking of [ **what to say to my girlfriend** ], yeah!” sweat drops down from the side of his temple. His actions are conspicuous, and it made the clerk put both hands on her waist, with a skeptical look.

                “You’re…” the clerk seems to be getting into him. “[ **Cheating on your girlfriend** ], aren’t you?” it was a guess out of color, and because of how panicky the gun man is, that is the only plausible case why he looks like he made several regrets in life. Seven was half-aware of what she said, as he stood up from the waiting bench and said “Yes!—wait, no! I’m not cheating on—‘ he couldn’t take back what he just said, and it made him even more suspicious for the fellow clerk. “I knew you were such a lowball.” She confidentl;y sneered at him.

                “Well, I’m not really the type to cheat on her. But I feel like I need to have some time alone.” Seven is trying to think of a way to get out of his current situation, but it only made things worse. “Oh my god. You’re breaking up with her?” The topic seem to have attracted some fellow soldiers. “Woah, dude. What happened?” a guard happens to ask. “Is she really the one?” for only a minute, a crowd of soldiers have already surrounded the gun man. “No! It’s not what it looks like!” As much as he tried to plea innocence, questions keep piling up. Until a certain rogue sneaks in and asks, “hey Sven. What’s this about you breaking up with me?” Out of nowhere, Dianne embraces him from behind. He looks back with a curious, yet calm reaction.

                “Oh, hey Anne.” Strangely, he didn’t flinch when she suddenly appears from behind. He even went into a hunchback and carried her like she wanted a piggyback. “What’s the ruckus about you breaking up or something?” Like children without a clue, they respond to one another normally, disregarding the crowd that are currently confused of what just happened. As if the noise around them was blocked off. “It was a misunderstanding. I said yes without listening to the clerk’s assumption.” He starts to walk out of the HQ, with an awkward silence and stare for everyone else. “Oh, it’s no biggie. Your dad is waiting for you there.” She points up from Seven’s shoulder, still clinging behind him. At the side of the street, Giga and Undyne were talking about something.

                “ _I know what you are really up to. Lying to yourself by focusing on your dead parents will not get you anywhere, unless you really are concerned for them._ ” There was a nagging thought at the back of his mind. It was what it told him. “Hey, Dianne. Can we, talk privately tonight?” the rogue looks at him with curious and cute eyes. But unlike Seven’s, his are full of questions. She jumps off of his back, and gives him a light pat. She follows with a smile of support and gives a nod. She really is a [ **Kind** ] person, the gun man had thought.

                “ **You must be patient with the Royal Guard.** ” With hands look like he is going to push, Giga has his eyes closed in shy while asking the other to wait. “NGAHH!! I went with this because I want to fight Rance, now!!!” she rages on with feet stomping and hands flailing up and down. The other two got a weird expression from the lion man and the monster, as Dianne suggests “How about we make things less awkward for the two.” The gun man agrees, and just said “Yeah, they might start a problem if we don’t do something about this.”

                The moment Undyne is in the middle of solidifying her water spear, it breaks down with a splash and a dagger spinning off to the ground. In that split second, Dianne threw one more dagger just before the other made a small drumstick-portion of the spear. “Please stop fighting!” the rogue had shouted. Undyne felt unease when her words didn’t synchronize with the weird aura around her. “If Rance can’t fight today, then he should be ready to fight tomorrow.” Seven gives an unsure guess, and it almost sounded like a question at the end part.

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UNYq7zbdPc)] From their side, it felt like it was the gun man’s presence that’s giving the weird feeling. That weird feeling disappeared when the lion man starts waving his arms toward the others. It’s strange that Giga’s presence is one thing that eliminates the bad aura around them, and not only that but his magic and singing eliminates almost any form of negative feeling. ‘Seven is really lucky to have a step-father, like Giga.’ Dianne thought. Like a family reunion, as soon as the two humans got close, the lion man grabs hold of the gun man by the neck with his arm, and shuffles Seven’s hair with his other hand. “Ugh, Dad! No, my hair!”

                “ **Hahaha! How’re you been while I wasn’t around?!** ” in his smile, he notices something different. His wrist was bandaged, and the gauntlet for it is hanging just behind his right gun holster, dented. As soon as he lets go of the hold at his neck, he grabs his arm just to check. “Ahk!” a jolt of pain after being held forced him to pull if away. “ **Reckless as usual, let me see.** ” Giga gently asks Seven. In the gun man’s response to his request, he lends his arm slowly. With the lion man’s hands spirally converging towards the injured part, air sucks into a ball. The air that forms into visibility glows with a gentle white gleam. As soon as Giga breaks his hands away and down to his sides, the wind formation disappears.

                Seven tries to move his hand around, and the pain was no longer there. He picks up one of the daggers that were on the ground, and tore the bandage apart. “Thanks, dad..!” All the lion man could respond to his adopted son’s gratitude is a warm smile. “Geez, you two are really like a family.” Undyne looks away for a moment. “Well, yeah. We’ve been together for 10 years.” The conversation continues as they walk to their next point. For them to talk on the streets, people seem to be wary of Undyne rather than Giga. Maybe because it’s her first time to be in the Human Capital’s North City.

                “Let’s go shopping!” Dianne takes the lead, as she pulls them with her cheers. “You already used those clothes when you were working at the Monster Capital, right?” the gun man asks curiously. His curious poker face makes him attracting to some. “ **No, this is a new set. Before we go to bed, we change into new uniforms. But yes, this does look the same.** ” The lion man states while his tail swings around happily. The monster royal guard nods and tells them, “We make sure they wear the new set of clothes after they take a bath.” She gives a goofy smile expression, and concludes, “If not, then your dad would’ve stunk the barracks!” Giga was dumbfounded by Undyne’s statement, while the two humans looked at each other, and laughs along.

                Getting to the apparel store, there were limited stocks for Giga’s size. But unlike anyone else, the lion man isn’t particularly choosy with the design—as long as it’s bright and yellow except for a new set of pantaloons, he’ll take it. “You really do love Yellow, huh?” Undyne asks. In turn, Seven also got him a different color of a hoodie sweater, a green and horizontal spiky pattern with a size XXL. A saleslady in dark blue dress approaches them, “I am very sorry, Mr. Lionheart. But out sizes XXL were taken ruined after an accident with the truck distribution.”

                Giga’s ears and tail droops down looks disappointed, “ **That’s too bad—** “ Undyne realizes something. “How come that human knows Giga?!” she asks loudly. Dianne gives her explanation, “In reality, everyone in North City, except for the Guards and everyone else in the Human Capital knows Seven and Giga.” Seven and the saleslady nodded twice, while the lion man was looking at the given and remaining choices of hoodie sweaters, and large collared shirts. “How did your brother not find about this? And if I recall from the big lug himself, they both lived here for two years!” Undyne couldn’t believe it as much as she wanted to, but it seems impossible for Rance to turn a blind eye about it.

                “Well, I am her assistant. I made sure that no one would mention about them, whenever the others come and go in the North City.” The saleslady gives her fair share to support Dianne about the City secret. “At first, everyone was afraid that a **Big, Walking and Talking, Lion man monster** is residing here. But after their contribution, and with Miss Vor’s explanation, we kinda understood their situation and went along with it.” Another sales person, who seems too old for her to work in an apparel store.

                “Oh! I remember that one time the Northern Royal Guard visited here to buy a new shirt. We had to immediately hide the lion man from sight!” the older saleslady said, but the other turns her attention to them and jested. “But Madam, you shoved him in a small fitting room. Even his tail was showing!” it was an embarrassing scene for the lion man himself, remembering how cramped the room was for him, and the fact that his tail was sticking out by accident. “Oh, that’s all right! We just told him that the zookeeper was on his way back to pick up the lost lion. As we reasoned that [ **it would’ve been endangered if his sister finds a lost animal.**]”

                It was like an exchange of a comedic scene, while all Seven could do is laugh at the reminiscence. Undyne felt confused with what they just said. “Why would he be endangered by a human?” she asks herself. It didn’t take long before she remembered what just happened when they were on their way back to the Human Capital. The irrational pain and panic caused by Giga, almost putting everyone inside the vehicle at risk. They all get along too well, but it would make sense to try and hide the fact that everyone needs to hide his presence since Rance would do a public execution if a monster were to roam around his city. It would be more disastrous if the officials also found out.

                But for them to cooperate and make sure that Giga is hidden for 2 full years. Dianne may have done some things to make sure they stay hidden, and also may have given everyone an assurance that they are as friendly as anyone could’ve been. As they finish buying a new set of clothes for the lion man, they bid farewell and gives what clerks would say “Please come again later!”. they went to the supermarket now to buy ingredients for a party cook-out. During their time, only Undyne was given the presence of suspicion, but no matter who she encounters, in the end she was greeted well, thanks to the three. There’s no lying that everyone knows Seven and Giga. But it’s strange, it pisses her off.

                Strangely, the soldiers around aren’t there to monitor the perimeter in case something happens. But it’s also strange that wherever they go, Dianne is the one leading them to the friendliest areas. The monster royal guard can see a pattern with what she’s doing, almost able to map the entire situation out. In short, the rogue has been leading them to open routes where the soldiers would either not monitor the place, or when they take their breaks. She knew very well, after what RG01 and RG02 tried to do in the past after Frisk was able to befriend them. For a rogue, she is smarter and more cunning than she looks, despite the fact that she’s kind in the outside.

                The presence of the unusual aura couldn’t be forgotten. But even so, Seven and Giga are making the walk as fun as it can be. Giga cheers with a singing tone, “ **Here we go!** ” and Seven follows with “Facing forward, before raising our voice!” the two does a duet “ **Continuing onwards! Someday, together we’ll chuckle again!** ” Another follow from the gun man, “Here we go!” this time the lion man points at their shoes and sings “ **Our shoes become so worn out,** ” another duet where they go side to side “ **but still, they tell us the ways we’ll walk, someday!** ” Their very cheerful in what they do, and it puts the whole atmosphere calming and cheerful at the same time, it doesn’t make sense for Undyne. But somehow, the tension that she’s feeling as they go, disappears.

                The bystanders and citizens can see them having a cheery hangout; it feels more like a date between humans and monsters, it gives them the impression that with the gun man and lion man giving everyone a good time, the possibility of humans and monsters being at peace with one another can be possible. Unfortunately, not everyone outside could think of that possibility. It can’t be avoided, regardless until they see it for themselves. And with Seven and Giga doing a duet and in sync, it somehow cheers them up. A father and son having fun, and with friends seeing that, it’s refreshing.

                Walking and singing, they are having fun as if their problems don't exist anymore. Dianne feels joyful for their actions, and Undyne couldn't avoid feeling the same. Seven and Giga are always in tone. Until they slow down by the railroads in a part of a city; it took them a few seconds to realize that they are lost. But that didn't stop them from walking, as Dianne takes the lead again.

              In their rest, they looked around to see that they are in some form of dock. Where they walk is a railroad way that circles the Human Capital in various routes, in order to deliver large quantity of goods and furniture. It’s strange for them to be lead to the farthest North of North City, where it is almost next to the North City Amusement Pier. The three looked at Dianne, who is supposed to be leading them to her brother’s home. “I was, until the two took the lead.” She could only comment with a questionable kindness. From afar, there was a light shining brightly. It was an incoming train. They ran for their lives, almost losing what they just bought along the way.[[song paused here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UNYq7zbdPc)]

* * *

 

                In a wide room full of books, documents and thesis papers; Bianca Mercy and Alphys are stretching their arms out with a struggling yawn. There is nothing more refreshing than reading schematics and approved papers from other leading instructors. Books and papers are almost everywhere, and around them are about 2-3 inches of thick project papers. Strange, they have so many ideas that can be used to improve the cities’ production rates and such.

                One of them was interesting: A 2D Virtualizer, a device that can re-animate pictures to real life, made by one of Dunkelheit’s promising students. Unfortunately, it was rejected because of how much it could harm everyone else. It was also noted at the last page in a survey, “What would happen if they re-animate a dangerous fictional character? Will they be able to harm real people and/or the environment around them?” Alphys thought of her favorite character in Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, but as the note suggest. It can be as dangerous as bringing back the dead as well. Bianca could understand that feeling of re-animating a certain character, but she considers it risky as well.

                “Oh my.” Alphys had noticed her watch, it has already been three hours since they have arrived the academy. “Oh my, indeed.” Bianca replies back with a worried tone. With one more stretch, they pushed themselves away from the oakwood table and stood up from the oakwood chairs. From their table, it could be counted that they have read about 25 thick books worth of thesis papers with heavy textbooks. “Thanks for letting me read these.” The royal scientist could give her consent. “It’s nothing.” The nurse could only give comment.

                “You know what that means…” Bianca suggests. They both crouch down for a moment, before jumping up with glee. “It’s **anime time!** ” It didn’t take long before a certain professor arrives at the scene, seeing the two girls jump like that. He clapped once, and it echoed throughout the wide room. As soon as they come down to the floor, they both blushed and giggled. “Please, observe silence when you are in the library.” Dunkelheit gives his regards to the two, before walking away. As soon as he left, the two skeleton brothers arrive at the scene. “heya.” Sans gives a slack response, maintaining his usual lazy grin.

                “…..” Papyrus couldn’t reply. “Hey, Sans. What’s wrong with your brother?” the nurse asks curiously. The tall skeleton tries to move his mouth as if he was speaking, but there was no voice coming out. “oh. prof muted paps with one of his medicines. he said that his skull was aching.” The short skeleton explains, while the other stomps his foot in protest. He’s trying to say something. Instead, Sans savors the moment and gives out a pun. “sadly, doc isn’t very **humerous** with his help.” All Papyrus could do is make yelling gestures. “By the way, I heard from Dianne that you can teleport.”

                Sans felt an odd feeling when Bianca mentioned the rogue’s name. “Can you get us to Rance’s house, pretty please?” the nurse is pushy with what she wants. It’s like she wants things to happen. “you know, there’s another way of getting to his house. and it’s called **walking**.” Alphys approaches them. “We’re not that s-stupid, you know. We just need to rest somewhere first.” Sans noticed that there were many books piled in a table, and it somehow peaked his interest in them. “well, i can help you with that. but i need his exact coordinates.”

                Bianca takes a piece of paper out of her side pocket, and gave it to Sans. Surprisingly, it’s a coordinate with precise checkpoint in where they can be standing. Papyrus looks at it, and gives a thumbs up. From his cheerful expression and gesture of his thumbs up, the nurse could tell that he can read it as well as his brother. “got, it. you girls ready?” Sans asks them. Bianca points up with as a cheerful look as Papyrus. A goofy smile and a cute smile, somehow livened up the room. “One second.” She asks, as she rushed to her table. Taking out a laptop bag, it is obvious that she is readying for some ‘anime marathon’.

                “welp. here goes.” Sans winks, before snapping his fingers. In a split second, the girls disappeared. “hehehe.” He laughs to himself. “Sans! What did you do?!” Papyrus’ voice is coming back, but it’s not as highly pitched as it should. “oh, good. doc's meds are wearing off. it could’ve been a **quiet** moment if you recovered sooner.” There was a bad joke behind what he said, and all the tall skeleton could react is a loud scream. “Oh my GOD, SANS!”

* * *

 

                [[song continues here](https://youtu.be/9UNYq7zbdPc?t=2m53s)] Dusk is approaching soon, as the lights on the street are turned on. The group of four, consisting of a pair of humans and monsters finally made way in reaching one’s sibling’s house. All of them were panting, tired. “Anyone still in one piece?” Dianne asks. All Undyne could give was a thumbs up. She looks very tired from all the running. It’s natural for fish monsters to be tired, but unlike anything else, they cannot last long with an extended travel without being doused with water. It can’t be helped either, but unlike all other monsters, Undyne lasted a full day without water, since the weather itself isn’t as extreme as the one at Hotlands.

                “We need to get her some water.” Seven stated the obvious. In quick response, Dianne immediately opens the door. The gun man and rogue rushed the monster royal guard to the bathroom. The lion man quietly looks around while the shower sprays loudly from the second floor. “Hey, what the—AH!! Anne, don’t shower me with Undyne!” It sounded like he was wet with the other. “Hey, what are you doing?!” Dianne exclaims in question. Giga could only chuckle lightly, while imagining how much fun they were having. “ **WE’RE NOT HAVING FUN, GIGA!** ” the two shouted from above.

                Someone knocks on the front door, and the lion man answers. As soon as he opens the door, he sees Alphys and Bianca standing with an irritated frown. Their clothes were a mess, and flies were swarming above them. “ **Oh my. What happened to you two?** ” the nurse took off her muddy shoes, and walks up to the second floor. “Don’t ask.” All she could comment. Her laptop bag seems to be in one piece. They might have fallen somewhere in a nearby dump, as Alphys also feel like following Bianca to a bathroom. As soon as the lion man heard the door opening, everyone screams. “AHHHHH!!!”

                “OH MY GOD, BIANCA!” Dianne screams out loud. Bianca asks out loud “DIANNE, WHY ARE YOU TWO NAKED?!” she was pointing out to her and the gun man. “IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!” Seven replies. Alphys sounded shy, and blushed “Oh my, are…ARE YOU TWO?!” her imagination is running wild; Dianne and Seven replied at the same time “ **NO, WE’RE NOT!** ” the rogue notices something and asks “Other than that, why are you two looked like you went to the Dump?!” Bianca replies “Sans happened! HE TELEPORTED US TO A NEARBY DUMPSTER!” the royal scientist tries to back up the nurse, “BIANCA G-GGAVE HIM THE EXACT COORDINATES!”

                Seven feels really uncomfortable while he panics, “ALPHYS, STOP PLEASE LOOKING AND COVER YOUR EYES FOR A SECOND. WHERE ARE THE TOWELS?” Bianca was too enrage to even ask why they’re taking too long to get a towel. “THAT JERK USED A DIFFERENT NUMBER ON PURPOSE!” Suddenly, Undyne spoke as if she just woke up. “WHY IS EVERYONE SHOUTING?!”, all four answered. “ **DON’T EVEN ASK!** ” Among all the voices, Alphys is the only one who sounded flustered, while the three were furious.

                Giga lightly chuckles, as he browses the small bookcase in the living room with earbuds put in his ears, playing the MP3 player Dianne lent him. “ **Ah, youth. I miss being young and lively.**” Opening a single book, he starts to hum and read while the people above are still arguing. As soon as Dianne and Seven are done with dousing Undyne with water to recovery, they come out wearing bathrobles. Alphys and Bianca went to take a bath next, with their clothes put on the basket. Undyne also came out of the bathroom with the pair. It was the most awkward among friends to become embarrassed with what just happened, but it is strange that everyone is getting along just fine.

                The gun man and the rogue were at the wash room. While the washing machine and the dryers work on their clothes, the two were talking about something. “No, your brother actually showed mercy.” Dianne felt relieved. “Normally, my brother would’ve killed someone for making a mistake.” It sounded natural for her, which gave an off-feeling about her. She continues, “But lately, he’s showing more compassion and mercy than he used to.” Later, Seven hangs his wet metal wear and scarf in an indoor clothes wire just by the washroom wall. “He is. Just like any normal person could be. No offense, but your brother is scary.” After the wait, their clothes are already finished, and everyone is allowed to wear their newly cleaned attire.

                Just at the kitchen, Undyne is helping with the groceries, while Giga continues reading. Dianne and Seven continues to have a conversation. “Yeah, he once scared half the soldiers of the Human Capital for what he could do. And I can tell you that what he did to test you, is not close to what he can really do.” The rogue is chopping the tomatoes, while the gun man cuts the bundle of spaghetti sticks into two, before putting them into the boiling water. Later, Bianca helps with the preparation of plates while Alphys joins the lion man in reading. She immediately noticed several blank notebooks, which contained hand-drawn comics. “Oh my god! Dianne, who drew this?”

                “Rance did.” She glances at the hyped royal scientist for a second, before turning his attention back to the gun man. “Darvenshel and the others told me that you showed kindness to monsters you’ve never met.” Dianne tells the gun man. “What? When?” Seven bothers asking, as he puts the softened noodles into a strainer. “When you told Asgore that it’s not his fault, nor Toriel’s.” As soon as the noodles have sled from the pot, he looks down. “I…don’t remember doing anything like that. After borrowing Asriel’s monstrous body, I fell into a deep sleep.” Dianne takes the drained noodles, and takes a bowl.

                “The last thing I remembered, was when I was being carried by Giga.” Dianne was thinking after he gave his testimony. It really was strange for him to show that much kindness, it contradicted with Darvenshel’s given details. “He also understood how a number SOULS had felt.” She glanced at him again, in one moment, Dianne saw someone else in place of Seven Gears. In her blink, that someone else disappeared. She looks away, thinking carefully while mixing the sauce and the pasta.

                 “ **The spaghetti is ready.** ” They announced in unison, with a bowl full of it. Plates were readied on the table where the TV and couches are. “If I could’ve helped with the cooking, then the spaghetti would’ve been AWESOME!!” Undyne suggests. Dianne couldn’t agree with that and commented. “Yeah, the food would’ve **packed a punch** , and our house would’ve **burned down** along with it.” Her remarks were coincidentally accurate. The lion man puts down a book, and the MP3 player on the shelf.

                “ **Seven, let’s continue?** ” Alphys and Bianca weren’t aware of what the lion man suggested. The party starts with Giga continuing the song they were singing. “ **Only the little blue thing remained, It seems beautiful, But the lost child’s mind was enigmatically absent.** ” Seven continues from there. “A fork in the road, but still I’m sure someday with you, I’ll have a funny sunny day.” He takes up a spoon and ends with “I still always believed in it, that’s for sure.” They were in tone, and it left the two unaware and confused. It felt like piano slams into a play, with the foster father and son singing in duet.

                “ **Here we go--! Facing forward, before raising our voices. Let’s keep on walking, Someday, we’ll chuckle again together. Here we go--! Those shoes that became worn out, but still, it tells us the ways we’ll walk someday!** ” They seem to point to their shoes, but it didn’t take long for Bianca to understand what they really mean. The two raised their tone and volume of voice in continuation. “ **Let’s go~! Take a step forward to its front, and keep walking. Always, illuminating the way for us. Here we go~! Even if our hearts get all worn out, just take a little break, and then tie those shoelaces again. And--”** They end with an encore.

“ **explore the wonders of this life!** ”

                One big journey from the start to the end, the rogue realizes something in their song and words. Underneath their hardships, sadness and struggles. They kept on walking together, like best friends going on a journey to certain impossible lengths. Being tricked by a flower, being controlled by a shady man who speaks in hands, being put in a difficult situation, where hope was to be close to zero. They were able to smile and enjoy life as how it is.  It’s strange that, for the long time they were able to do a lot of things. Seven remembered 10 years’ worth of rocky life, but no matter what happened he was able to live through them. “Thanks, dad.” That’s all he could say with a smile. [[song ends here](https://youtu.be/9UNYq7zbdPc)]

                The party among friends, from constant chats, more singing, and watching of anime series. The night went by.

* * *

 

                Later at night, Seven Gears sits outside, with only his shirt and pants. His shoes were inside, but he felt like walking barefooted, as he watched the night’s moon. Dianne appears by his side, giving him something. “At least, wear your scarf.” She said, handing it to him. “Thanks.” He smiles, but something seems to be weighing his expression. The rogue decides to sit beside him. “What’s the matter?” she asks. “….” He looks down without saying a word. Judging from his expression, it might be something heavy. “A flower monster, Flowey, appeared just while I was going to the HQ.”

                Dianne looked curiously worried. “What?!” Seven looks down. “It…told me that all this happened, **according to its plan**. **Everything—from when I was abducted to now.** ” Dianne fell quiet, “This is horrible. Why you?” she stands up in concern. He closed his eyes, and his SOUL starts to glow into light-blue. A second later, it faded. “It told me that, I’m the human who bears the trait, Patience.” Dianne looks at the time. It’s almost midnight, and they have a lot to cover for tomorrow. “Let’s continue this again, tomorrow.” She said. Seven seems relieved that he was able to tell her that; he smiles with content as he waves his hand. “Good night, Anne.”

                Dianne returns a smile and greet, “Goodnight, Sven.” As soon as she got inside, the gun man stands up from the solid ground, and starts to walk somewhere. Soon, he gets to a telephone booth and dialed some numbers. It was ringing for him, until someone picked up. His tone of voice seem cold and strict:

                “Hello. Code Seven, reporting…..Yes, I was able to obtained valuable information about this country’s situation, as well as the condition of the people…… No, I don’t think there were any problems. It is true. The King had made an alliance with the monsters…. No, they are not the dangerous ones. The ones who are more dangerous are the King’s personnel…..Yes, I’ve engaged an easy duel with the Northern Royal Guard. He is not to be meddled with, along with the rest of them…I understand, **Code Ace**. Lastly, when you encounter a _**small talking flower**_ , kill it. It knows our plans, and I am not sure how much it knows. All I can say is that, it knows more than what we can expect. That is all, and be safe with your mission…”

“ _Seven Gears. Signing Off._ ”

-To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone enjoyed the story and song? A bit too fast, I see. Yes, this one's actually better than the one that got corrupted. Well, anyone saw the secret behind the two previous chapters? Dianne **saw that by a glance** , and i hope you saw it too.
> 
> Also, take note that **Giga Lionheart** is similar to one of the Voicebanks, **Giga Lacan**. But I made him only similarly different to avoid copyright. If you want to know, you can look him up on the internet. I can tell that some of you aren't satisfied that Undyne and Alphys didn't do much here, only because the spotlight is on the two. ~~Bummer~~. Don't worry, I have plans for the two later.


End file.
